Spatial, multi-modal control device for use with spatial operating system

ABSTRACT

A system comprising an input device includes a detector coupled to a processor. The detector detects an orientation of the input device. The input device has multiple modal orientations corresponding to the orientation. The modal orientations correspond to multiple input modes of a gestural control system. The detector is coupled to the gestural control system and automatically controls selection of an input mode in response to the orientation.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No.61/181,621, filed May 27, 2009.

This application is a continuation in part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/350,697, filed Feb. 8, 2006.

This application is a continuation in part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/109,263, filed Apr. 24, 2008.

This application is a continuation in part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/553,845, filed Sep. 3, 2009.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/773,605, filed May 4, 2010.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments are described relating to control systems and devicesincluding the representation, manipulation, and exchange of data withinand between computing processes.

BACKGROUND

Real-time control of computational systems requires the physical actionsof a user to be translated into input signals. For example, a televisionremote control generates specific signals in response to button presses,a computer keyboard generates signals in response to key presses, and amouse generates signals representing two-axis movement and buttonpresses. In a spatial or gestural input system, the movement of handsand objects in three-dimensional space is translated as signals capableof representing up to six degrees of spatial freedom and a large numberof modalities or poses.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

Each patent, patent application, and/or publication mentioned in thisspecification is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to thesame extent as if each individual patent, patent application, and/orpublication was specifically and individually indicated to beincorporated by reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the wand-shaped multi-modal input device (MMID), under anembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a MMID using magnetic field tracking, underan embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the MMID in a tracking environment, underan embodiment.

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b show input states of the MMID with infrared (IR)light-emitting diodes (LEDs) (IR LEDs), under an embodiment.

FIGS. 5 a and 5 b show input states of the MMID with IR LEDs, under analternative embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a gestural control system, under anembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of marking tags, under an embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of poses in a gesture vocabulary, under anembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of orientation in a gesture vocabulary, under anembodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of two hand combinations in a gesture vocabulary,under an embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of orientation blends in a gesture vocabulary,under an embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of system operation, under an embodiment.

FIGS. 13/1 and 13/2 show example commands, under an embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a processing environment including datarepresentations using slawx, proteins, and pools, under an embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a protein, under an embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a descrip, under an embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an ingest, under an embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a slaw, under an embodiment.

FIG. 19A is a block diagram of a protein in a pool, under an embodiment.

FIGS. 19B1 and 19B2 show a slaw header format, under an embodiment.

FIG. 19C is a flow diagram for using proteins, under an embodiment.

FIG. 19D is a flow diagram for constructing or generating proteins,under an embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a processing environment including dataexchange using slawx, proteins, and pools, under an embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple devices and numerous programs running on one or more of thedevices in which the Plasma constructs (i.e., pools, proteins, and slaw)are used to allow the numerous running programs to share andcollectively respond to the events generated by the devices, under anembodiment.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple devices and numerous programs running on one or more of thedevices in which the Plasma constructs (i.e., pools, proteins, and slaw)are used to allow the numerous running programs to share andcollectively respond to the events generated by the devices, under analternative embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple input devices coupled among numerous programs running on one ormore of the devices in which the Plasma constructs (i.e., pools,proteins, and slaw) are used to allow the numerous running programs toshare and collectively respond to the events generated by the inputdevices, under another alternative embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple devices coupled among numerous programs running on one or moreof the devices in which the Plasma constructs (i.e., pools, proteins,and slaw) are used to allow the numerous running programs to share andcollectively respond to the graphics events generated by the devices,under yet another alternative embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple devices coupled among numerous programs running on one or moreof the devices in which the Plasma constructs (i.e., pools, proteins,and slaw) are used to allow stateful inspection, visualization, anddebugging of the running programs, under still another alternativeembodiment.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple devices coupled among numerous programs running on one or moreof the devices in which the Plasma constructs (i.e., pools, proteins,and slaw) are used to allow influence or control the characteristics ofstate information produced and placed in that process pool, under anadditional alternative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are described herein for providing multi-modal inputto a spatial or gestural computing system. Embodiments of the systemsand methods are provided in the context of a Spatial OperatingEnvironment (SOE), described in detail below. The SOE, which includes agestural control system, or gesture-based control system, canalternatively be referred to as a Spatial User Interface (SUI) or aSpatial Interface (SI).

Numerous embodiments of a multi-modal input device (MMID) are describedherein, where the MMID allows the user of a spatial or gestural inputsystem to access a range of input functionalities intuitively and in anergonomically efficient manner. The MMID of an embodiment is a hand-heldinput device. The MMID of an embodiment comprises a means of accurately,and in real time, tracking the position and orientation of the device.The MMID of an embodiment comprises a physical and mechanical structuresuch that the person holding and operating the device may easily rotateit about one or more of its axes. The MMID of an embodiment comprises aphysical and mechanical structure such that the device may be held andoperated comfortably in more than one rotational grip. The MMID of anembodiment comprises a software component(s) or mechanism capable ofinterpreting and translating into user input signals both the rotationalgrip state in which the user is maintaining and operating the device andtransitions between these operational rotation states. This softwarecomponent relies on the tracking data corresponding to the device. Inaddition, such an input device may have other input capabilitiesintegrated into its form, such as buttons, joysticks, sliders andwheels. The device may also have integrated output capabilities, such aslights, audio speakers, raster displays, and vibrating motors.

As suggested herein, a large variety of specific configurations arepossible for the multi-modal input device of the various embodiments.Devices may differ in physical shape, mechanicals, and ergonomics.Devices may also differ in the number of discreet modalities supportedby the combination of physical design, tracking technology, and softwareprocessing. Furthermore, MMIDs may differ in the design of supplementaryon-board input (i.e. beyond position, orientation, and modality), and inon-board output capabilities.

The MMID of an embodiment includes a wand-shaped device with a housinghaving a form factor similar to a consumer electronics remote control.FIG. 1 shows the wand-shaped MMID 100, under an embodiment. The MMID 100is approximately five inches long and one and one-half inches wide witha triangular cross-section, but is not so limited. Each face of the MMID100 housing includes a single input sensor, which in an embodimentcomprises an electro-mechanical button, but alternative embodiments canhave a greater or lesser number of buttons, or different types ofbuttons, on each face. When a user holds the MMID 100 one of thetriangular prism's long edges 104 naturally faces downward in the user'shand, resting in the bend of the user's fingers, while the prism'sopposite face is oriented upward and sits under the user's thumb. TheMMID 100 may be rotated 120 degrees about the long axis with a minimalmovement of the fingers and thumb, bringing an adjacent face of theprism into the upward orientation. The prism thus includes threedistinct, easily accessed modal orientations corresponding to the facesof the prism. The MMID 100 can be rotated through all (e.g., three)orientations rapidly, repeatably and repeatedly, even by usersexperimenting with the device for the first time.

Position of the MMID 100 of an embodiment is tracked using magneticfield tracking, as described below, but can be tracked using othertracking technologies (some of which are described herein). The MMID 100comprises circuitry, a microcontroller, and program code for trackingthe device relative to an alternating current (AC) magnetic field, orelectromagnetic field (EMF). The EMF of an embodiment is generated oremitted by a compatible base station proximate to the MMID, but is notso limited. The MMID 100 comprises one or more mechanical buttons, alsoreferred to as input sensors, along with corresponding electronics todigitize the state of the one or more buttons. Furthermore, the MMID 100includes circuitry that provides a radio link to report the trackingdata (e.g., orientation data, position data, etc.) and button press rawdata to a host system. Additionally, the MMID 100 includes a battery andpower supply circuitry.

Input processing software translates the raw tracking and button pressdata into data comprising six degrees of spatial position andorientation, button down transition, button up transition, and a runningaccount of button state. The input processing software of an embodimentexecutes in part on the device and in part as application code on thehost system, but is not so limited and can run in a distributed manneron any number/combination of processing devices or solely on a singleprocessor. This data is delivered to application software as a series ofprogrammatic “events” (processing of the programmatic events isdescribed in detail below). In addition, this input processing layerprovides mode transition and running mode state events to applicationsoftware. Three states (e.g., i, ii, and iii), and six transitions(e.g., i->ii, i->iii, ii->iii, iii->i, and iii->ii) are possible, asdescribed in detail below.

The processing layer of an embodiment uses hysteresis to allow a user toaccess a maximum of rotation along the MMID's long axis without leavinga given mode, and to avoid rapid, undesirable flip-flopping betweenmodal states when the MMID is near the edge of a transition angle. Usingthis hysteresis, to trigger a transition between modes, the MMID of anembodiment should be rotated more than 120 degrees relative to thecenter angle of the previous mode. So if the MMID is in mode (i), withan absolute angular center of zero degrees, the MMID remains logicallyin the mode (i) state until a rotation is detected about the long axisof more than, say, 150 degrees in either direction. When the MMID isrotated 151 degrees, it transitions to modal state (ii), which has anangular center of 120 degrees. To effect a return to state (i) the MMIDmust be rotated in the opposite sense past this angular center by −150degrees, bringing it past an absolute angle of −30 (or 330) degrees. Thehysteresis band, given above as 30 degrees (150 degrees minus 120), isprogrammatically settable, and may be adjusted by application code or byuser preference setting. This hysteresis example if provided for athree-sided MMID, as described above, but is not limited to the valuesdescribed herein for the three-sided device; the rotation angles and/orhysteresis bands of alternative embodiments are determined according toa form-factor of the housing or wand and to designer/user preferences.

In addition, certain modes can be selectively disabled by applicationcode. So the MMID can be treated by application code as a single-modedevice outputting a constant modal state of (i), (ii), or (iii). Or, anyone of the modes may be disabled, either by mapping the disabled mode toeither of the two remaining modes exclusively, or by treating thedisabled mode as an additional area of the hysteresis band.

Further, the system may be configured to immutably associate a physicalface of the MMID (e.g., triangular prism) with each mode, the facesbeing optionally labeled as to mode association by means of active orpassive markings. Alternatively, the system may be configured to assignmodes to faces in a contextual way. As an example of this latter case,the MMID can be configured so that, when it is first picked up by a userafter a period of inactivity, the initially upward face is associatedwith mode (i). In such cases an indicator of the active mode can beprovided on the MMID, on the graphical display to which the user isattending, or on a combination of the MMID and the graphical display.

Each face of the MMID includes a single button, also referred to as aninput sensor. These buttons are treated identically by application-levelsoftware, but are not so limited. From the user's perspective, thedevice may be considered as having a single logical button, with threephysical incarnations for reasons of ergonomic practicality. Thecircuitry and software of the MMID does distinguish manipulation ofdifferent physical buttons, however, and the system may be arranged sothat pressing the buttons in specific combinations places the device invarious configuration and reset states.

The MMID of an embodiment functions using magnetic field trackingtechnology (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,474). The use oforthogonal coils for generating and sensing magnetic fields has beenused in locating and tracking remote objects. For example, U.S. Pat. No.3,644,825 teaches generating and sensing coils which move with respectto each other. Alternatively, the magnetic field can be made to rotateas taught in Kalmus, “A New Guiding and Tracking System”, IRETransactions on Aerospace and Navigational Electronics, March 1962,pages 7 through 10.

The use of coordinate transformers to determine the orientation of afirst coordinate system with respect to a second coordinate system hasalso been used. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,474,241 and 3,660,648disclose transformers which transform angular rates or angular errorsmeasured in a first coordinate frame into angular rates defined aboutthe axes of an intermediate coordinate frame about whose axes theangular rotations or rates are defined and then integrate to determinethe angles defining the angle-axis sequence which defines theorientation of the first coordinate frame with respect to a secondcoordinate frame through the use of Euler angles.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a MMID using magnetic field tracking, underan embodiment. A base station 210 located proximate or in the trackingenvironment of the MMID both provides the tracking field, as well ascommunicates with the MMID 211. In the base station, a signal generatorcreates magnetic fields by using a field generator circuit 201 toproduce a wave form alternately in three orthogonal coils 202. Theelectromagnetic signals generated by these coils are received by threeorthogonal coils 203 in the MMID. The received signals from the threecoils are typically amplified using operational amplifiers 204 andconverted to digital signals 205 which can be sampled by amicroprocessor 207. The microprocessor analyzes the input of the threecoils using digital signal processing (DSP) techniques. The DSP processprovides a location vector projecting the distance and direction of theMMID from the base station, as well as an orientation matrix thatdetermines the orientation of the MMID.

Additional information (e.g., time stamp, universal ID, etc.) can alsobe combined with the MMID location data. One or more user input sensors206 are also sensed for state. The input sensors 206 can be momentaryswitches, toggle switches, joystick style input devices, and/or touchsensors to name a few. The sample data from these switches includes asingle bit (for a touch button) or a more complex data value, such as afloating point x,y coordinate for a touch sensor.

In an embodiment, the microprocessor communicates data includinglocation data and orientation data from the MMID wirelessly to a hostprocess. The MMID has a radio frequency transmitter and receiver (TX/RX)208 for data communication to the network through an Access Point 209.This radio link can use any wireless protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, 802.11,Wireless USB, proprietary solutions, Nordic Semiconductor nRF24L01 lowpower radio solution, etc.). The access point can communicate thereceived data stream to one or more host computers through a local areanetwork (e.g., Wired Internet 10/100/1000 BaseT, 802.11, etc.) or otherinterface (e.g., USB, etc.).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the MMID in a tracking environment, underan embodiment. The MMID 304 is shown in relation to the trackingenvironment 300. The MMID is communicating with a base station 301, asdescribed above, but the MMID can communicate with any number ofdifferent types and/or combinations of electronic devices in thetracking environment 300. The tracking environment is not limited to aparticular size because, as the range of the radio frequencycommunications channel may be different from the range of the ACmagnetic field, additional AC magnetic field generators 305/306/308 withcoils can be provided to create additional tracking beacons. Thesebeacons can operate at different frequencies and/or transmit atdifferent times. As the user of the MMID moves away from field generator302 and towards generator 305 the MMID will use whichever signal isinstantaneously stronger to determine location and orientation, but willstill communicate this data back to the network using access point 303.

As the MMID moves out of range of the access point 303 and towards basestation 306, the MMID will associate the radio link with the accesspoint in base station 306. The ability to roam among magnetic fieldgenerators and data access points ultimately allows the MMID to be usedin an arbitrarily large tracking environment. Note that the accesspoints and magnetic field generators need not be at the same location307/308. While both the access points and field generators have means ofcommunication with one or more host devices over a local area network,the frequency generators can operate autonomously 305 allowing foreasier installation.

Following is an operational example of a person using the MMID of anembodiment. During operation, an operator stands some distance (e.g.,ten feet) before a triptych-format wide aspect ratio projection screen,roughly two meters high and four meters wide; a one-point-five meterwide table stands immediately before her. The table is itself also aprojection surface treated by a projector ceiling-mounted immediatelyoverhead. The operator holds the MMID having thetriangular-cross-section MMID comfortably in her right hand, with flatside “i” pointing upward. As she aims the MMID toward and about thefront screen, a partially transparent graphical cursor indicates theintersection of the MMID's pointing vector with the screen surface. Theinput system's high frame rate and low latency contribute to a strongsense of causal immediacy: as the operator changes the MMID's aim, thecursor's corresponding movement on the forward screen does notapparently lag behind; the perception is of waving a flashlight or laserpointer.

The application in use by the operator is a product packaging previewsystem, and is configured to make use of the MMID in a way identical tomany similar applications; the MMID modalities are thus well familiar tothe operator. Mode “i” allows direct manipulation of applicationelements at the fully detailed level; mode “ii” performsmeta-manipulation of elements (e.g. at the group level); and mode “iii”permits three-dimensional manipulations. At any instant, the appearanceof the cursor reflects not only the current mode but also indicatesvisually the direction of axial rotation that would be necessary toswitch the MMID's modes. At present, the cursor shows that a clockwiserotation of the MMID would cause a modal transition to “ii”, whilecounterclockwise rotation would transition to mode “iii”.

Arranged on the left third of the forward screen triptych is an array ofsmall object groupings. The operator rotates the MMID axially clockwiseuntil the next face is aimed upward, under her thumb, and the cursorchanges to indicate the modal transition to state “ii”. She aims theMMID leftward, and as the cursor travels over each object grouping ahighlight border fades up, subsequently fading down as the cursor exitsthe grouping's convex hull. The operator allows the cursor to rest on aparticular grouping and then depresses the button immediately under herthumb. The cursor indicates that the object grouping has been grabbedand, as she swings the MMID toward the center of the forward screen, thegrouping moves so as to track along with the cursor. The operatorreleases the button when she has brought the miniature grouping to aposition directly in front of her. The grouping rapidly expands to fillthe full extent of the center third of the forward screen, revealing acollection of variously shaped plastic bottles and the textualindication “Pet Energy Beverages”.

The operator once again rotates the MMID clockwise about its long axis,whereupon the cursor changes to indicate that mode “iii” is nowoperational and, thus, that 3D manipulation is enabled. The operatoraims the cursor at a particularly bulbous bottle shaped like a coiffuredpoodle leg, and the bottle visually highlights; the operator thendepresses the button. The system now enters a direct-manipulation modein which translation and rotation of the MMID controls translation androtation of the selected object in the virtual space being rendered. So,as the operator pulls the MMID toward herself (directly along thegeometric normal to the forward screen), the bottle grows larger,verging toward the virtual camera. Similarly, left-right movement of theMMID translates to left-right movement of the rendered bottle (along thescreen's lateral axis), and up-down translation of the MMID results invertical translation of the bottle. An appropriate scale factor,customizable for each operator, is applied to these translations so thatmodest movements of the MMID effect larger movements of virtual objects;the full extent of the graphical/virtual environment is thereby madeaccessible without exceeding an operator's range of comfortablehand-movement.

A similar scaling function is applied to the mapping of MMID orientationto absolute rotational position of the rendered bottle. In the presentexample, the operator's preferences dictate a four-times scale, so thata ninety degree rotation of the MMID around any axis results in a fullthree hundred sixty degree rotation of the virtual object (90 degreesmultiplied by four (4) results in 360 degrees). This insures that wrist-and arm-based MMID rotations remain within a comfortable range as theoperator examines the bottle from every possible angular vantage. So,for example, as she rotates the MMID upward, tipping it ninety degreesaround a local x-axis so that it evolves from forward-pointing toupward-pointing, the bottle executes a full rotation around thescreen-local x-axis, returning to its initial orientation just as theMMID achieves a fully upward attitude. Note that an appropriatemode-locking effect is applied so long as the MMID's button remainsdepressed: the operator may rotate the MMID one hundred seventyclockwise degrees around the MMID's long axis (producing a five hundredten degree “in-screen” rotation of the virtual object) without causingthe MMID to switch to mode “i”.

When the operator releases the MMID's button, the rendered bottle isreleased from direct manipulation and retains its instantaneous positionand rotation. If at the moment of button release the MMID is in arotational attitude that would ordinarily correspond to a MMID-modeother than “iii”, the operator is granted a one-second temporalhysteresis (visually indicated as part of the on-screen cursor'sgraphical state) before the mode switch is actually effected; if theoperator returns the MMID rotationally to an attitude corresponding tomode “iii”, then direct 3D manipulation mode persists. She may thenperform additional positional and attitudinal adjustments bysuperimposing the cursor atop the bulbous bottle and again depressingthe button; if instead she aims the cursor at a different bottle, thatobject will be subject to her manipulations.

The operator eventually switches the MMID to mode “ii” and, using adragging modality identical to that by which she brought the bottlegrouping to the center screen, brings a color-palette from the rightscreen to the center screen; when she releases the button, the paletteexpands and positions itself to the side of the bulbous bottle. She thenrotates the MMID to select mode “i” and manipulates the color palette'sselection interface; when the crimson hue she desires has been selected,she depresses the button and drags a color swatch from the palettedownward and leftward until it overlies the clear material forming thebulbous bottle. When she releases the button, the color is applied andthe bottle's material adopts a transparent crimson.

Still in mode “i”, the operator points the MMID directly at the bulbousbottle, which highlights in response, and, depressing the button, swingsthe MMID downward to drag the image of the bottle from the front screento the surface of the table immediately before her. She releases thebutton and thereby the bottle, leaving it in position on the table. Theoperator then rotates back to mode “ii” and points the MMID forward atthe collection of other pet energy beverage bottles; she depresses thebutton and immediately flicks the MMID leftward, releasing the button afraction of a second later. The collection of bottles flies leftward,diminishing in size as it travels, until it comes to rest in thelocation and at the overall scale at which it started. The operator thenselects a different grouping of pet care products, bringing it to thecenter display region as before in order to select, inspect, and modifyone of the items. She eventually adds the selected object to the tabledisplay. The operator continues this curatorial process.

At a certain point, the operator elects to modify the physical geometryof a canister of pet massage oil using a simple geometry editor, alsopulled from the collection of tools appearing on the right third of theforward screen triptych. The description of many manipulations involvedin the use of this editor is omitted here, for the sake of clarity,except as regards the simultaneous use of two MMIDs. In the presentinstance, the operator uses a second MMID, held in her left hand, inorder to put a twist in the canister (originally a simple extruded shapewith rectangular cross section) by using one MMID to grab the top partof the canister's geometry and the other MMID to grab the canister'sbottom part (both MMIDs in mode “iii”). With the top and bottom therebyseparately “affixed”, the operator rotates the MMIDs in oppositedirections; this introduces a linear twist about the canister's mainaxis. The operator finishes these geometry modifications and returns theediting module to the right display; she adds the modified canister tothe table's growing assortment.

At last there are a dozen objects being rendered on the table, and theforward center display is empty once more—the operator hasmode-“ii”-flicked the last grouping leftward (and the color paletterightward). She then points the MMID, still in mode “ii”, at the table,but her aim avoids the product renderings there; instead, she depressesthe right button and describes a circular trajectory with the MMID, asif drawing a curved corral shape around the displayed objects. Inresponse, the system applies a grouping operation to the formerlydistinct product renderings, organizing their layout and conformingtheir relative sizes. Finally, the operator uses mode-“ii”-dragging toelastically extend the input aperture of a graphical “delivery tube”from the right display to the center; she then picks up the table'scustomized product collection, drags it up to the center screen, anddeposits it in the mouth of the delivery tube. The tube ingests thecollection and retracts back to the right display; the collection willbe delivered to the operator's colleague, who is expecting to review herwork and use it to construct an interactive visualization of a pet shopaisle.

The MMID of an alternative embodiment includes a housing having arectangular form-factor. The pointer of this alternative embodiment isfive inches long, one and one half inches wide, and one half inch deep,for example, but many other sizes and/or configurations are possiblehereunder. The MMID includes optically tracked tags, described in detailbelow. The MMID does not include electronics as the processing softwareruns in a host system environment, but the embodiment is not so limited.

A user most naturally holds the pointer such that the long axis servesto point at objects (including virtual objects) in the user'senvironment. The pointer can be rotated around the long axis totransition between two modal orientations (e.g., modes i and ii). Fourmodal transitions are possible, even though there are only two modes,because the system can distinguish between the direction of rotationduring a transition: transition from mode i to mode ii/clockwise;transition from mode i to mode ii/counter-clockwise; transition frommode ii to mode i/clockwise; transition from mode ii to modei/counter-clockwise. As with the MMID described above, these rotationaltransitions are tracked in input processing software, and can be subjectto hysteretic locking.

The optical tags are mounted on the “front” portion (e.g., front half)of the pointer, in the area extending outwards from the user's hand, forexample, but are not so limited. On each of the two sides of thepointer, two tags are mounted. The forward-most tag on each side isfixed in position. The rear-most tag on each side is positioned adistance (e.g., five (5) centimeters) behind the forward tag and isaligned along and oriented according to the same axis. This rear tag isaffixed to a spring-mounted sliding mechanism (the direction oftranslation aligned with the pointer's long axis) such that the user'sthumb may push forward on the mechanism to decrease the distance betweenthe two tags by approximately one centimeter.

The input processing software interprets the logical button state of thedevice to be in state (0) when the distance between the two tags is fivecentimeters. To effect a transition to state (1), the rear tag is moveda distance closer to the front tag (e.g., to within 4.2 centimeters ofthe front tag). The transition back to button state (1) is triggeredonly when the distance between the tags exceeds 4.8 centimeters. This issimilar to the hysteresis applied to the device's principal (rotational)mode transitions. Again, the size of the hysteresis band isconfigurable.

In the embodiment of an optically tracked MMID, an optical tracking tagis used where a number of dots are aligned on a tag. These dots may besmall spheres covered with retroreflectors, for example, allowing an IRtracking system (described below) to determine the location andorientation of a tagged object. In the case that this tagged object isan input MMID, it may be desired to provide a means for the trackingsystem to determine when a user has provided a non-geometric,state-change input, such as pressing a button.

The MMID of various alternative embodiments operates using infrared (IR)light-emitting diodes (LEDs) (IR LEDs) to provide tracking dots that areonly visible to a camera at certain states based on the user input. TheMMID of these alternative embodiments includes a battery and LED drivingcircuitry controlled by the input button. FIGS. 4 a and 4 b show inputstates of the MMID with IR LEDs, under an embodiment. The tag of thisembodiment comprises numerous retro-reflective dots 402 (shown as asolid filled dot) and two IR LEDs 403 and 404. In FIG. 4 a, the tag isshown in a state in which the button on the MMID is not pressed, and IRLED 403 is in the non-illuminated state, while IR LED 404 is in theilluminated state. In FIG. 4 b, the user has pressed a button on theMMID and, in response, IR LED 403 is in the illuminated state while IRLED 404 is in the non-illuminated state. The optical processing systemdetects the difference in the two tags and from the state of the twotags determines the user's intent.

FIGS. 5 a and 5 b show input states of the MMID with IR LEDs, underanother alternative embodiment. In this embodiment, only one LED isswitched. Thus, referring to FIG. 5 a, LED 504 is in the non-illuminatedstate when the user has not pressed the button. In FIG. 5 b, the userhas pressed the button and LED 504 is thus illuminated.

Additional methods are also enabled using similar approaches. In onealternative embodiment, a complete tag is constructed using LEDs and thepresence or absence of that tag provides input of the user. In anotherembodiment, two identical tags are created either overlaid (offset by,for example 0.5 cm) or adjacent. Illuminating one tag or the other, anddetermining the location of that tag with respect to another tag, allowsthe input state of the user to be determined.

The MMID of other alternative embodiments can combine the use of tagtracking with EMF tracking. These alternative embodiments combineaspects of the EMF tracking with the tag tracking using various types oftags, as described herein.

The MMID of another alternative embodiment includes a controller used inconjunction with two infrared light sources, one located in front of theuser and one positioned behind the user. These two light sources eachhave three individual infrared emitters, and the emitter of each sourceis configured in a different pattern. The MMID of this embodiment makesuse of inertial tracking, includes two modes, and includes multiplemechanical input buttons, as described below.

The MMID of this embodiment might be thought of as a modification of aNintendo® Wii™ remote control device that supports two modalorientations, with the modes determined by the directional orientationof the controller relative to its environment. The Wii™ controller is asmall device used to play video games on the Nintendo® Wii™ platform,and an associated infrared light source. The controller tracks itsmotion in space inertially, using a set of low-accuracy accelerometers.The accelerometers are not accurate enough to provide good position andorientation data over more than a few tenths of seconds, because of theerrors that accumulate during numerical integration, so an opticaltracking system (in conjunction with the light source component) is alsoused. The optical tracking system of the Wii™ controller thereforefurther comprises an internal, front-facing infrared camera capable oflocating four bright infrared light sources in a two-dimensional imageplane. Therefore, the camera is embedded in the tracked device and theobjects that are optically located are fixed-position environmentalreferents. By measuring the perceived size and position of knowninfrared light sources in the environment it is possible to determinethe direction in which the controller is pointing and to triangulate thecontrollers distance from those sources. This infrared trackingtechnology may be viewed as an inversion of the tracking technologydescribed herein, because the infrared tracking technology of theembodiment herein uses cameras placed in the environment to opticallylocate points arranged on devices, surfaces, gloves, and other objects.

In a typical use with the Nintendo® Wii™ console, the controller isalways pointing towards a display screen. An infrared light source isplaced above or below the display screen, providing the controller witha screen-relative orientation. In contrast, the controller of anembodiment is used in conjunction with two infrared light sources, onepositioned in front of the user and one positioned behind the user.These two light sources each have three individual infrared emitters,and each source's emitters are configured in a different pattern.

The controller of an embodiment communicates by bluetooth radio withinput processing software or components running on a host computer. Theinput processing software identifies which emitter pattern is detectedand therefore whether the controller is pointing forwards or backwards.Two modal orientations are derived from this forwards/backwardsdetermination. In modal state (i) the controller is oriented forwards.In modal state (ii) the controller is oriented backwards. In each case,the user is logically pointing forwards. The user controls the mode byturning the controller around “back to front”. This is in contrast tothe embodiments described above, in which the mode control is along-axis “rolling” of the device. The controller of an embodiment caninclude an embedded speaker, providing sound output, several lights, anda vibration (or “rumble”) output.

Numerous modifications of the embodiments described herein are possibleunder this description. The controller of an embodiment may, forexample, have two cameras, one on each end of the device, therebyobviating the need for two light sources. The light sources may bedifferentiated by timing, rather than spatial, patterns.

Spatial Operating Environment (SOE)

Embodiments of a spatial-continuum input system are described herein inthe context of a Spatial Operating Environment (SOE). As an example,FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a Spatial Operating Environment (SOE),under an embodiment. A user locates his hands 101 and 102 in the viewingarea 150 of an array of cameras 104A-104D. The cameras detect location,orientation, and movement of the fingers and hands 101 and 102, asspatial tracking data, and generate output signals to pre-processor 105.Pre-processor 105 translates the camera output into a gesture signalthat is provided to the computer processing unit 107 of the system. Thecomputer 107 uses the input information to generate a command to controlone or more on screen cursors and provides video output to display 103.

Although the system is shown with a single user's hands as input, theSOE 100 may be implemented using multiple users. In addition, instead ofor in addition to hands, the system may track any part or parts of auser's body, including head, feet, legs, arms, elbows, knees, and thelike.

In the embodiment shown, four cameras or sensors are used to detect thelocation, orientation, and movement of the user's hands 101 and 102 inthe viewing area 150. It should be understood that the SOE 100 mayinclude more (e.g., six cameras, eight cameras, etc.) or fewer (e.g.,two cameras) cameras or sensors without departing from the scope orspirit of the SOE. In addition, although the cameras or sensors aredisposed symmetrically in the example embodiment, there is norequirement of such symmetry in the SOE 100. Any number or positioningof cameras or sensors that permits the location, orientation, andmovement of the user's hands may be used in the SOE 100.

In one embodiment, the cameras used are motion capture cameras capableof capturing grey-scale images. In one embodiment, the cameras used arethose manufactured by Vicon, such as the Vicon MX40 camera. This cameraincludes on-camera processing and is capable of image capture at 1000frames per second. A motion capture camera is capable of detecting andlocating markers.

In the embodiment described, the cameras are sensors used for opticaldetection. In other embodiments, the cameras or other detectors may beused for electromagnetic, magnetostatic, RFID, or any other suitabletype of detection.

Pre-processor 105 generates three dimensional space point reconstructionand skeletal point labeling. The gesture translator 106 converts the 3Dspatial information and marker motion information into a commandlanguage that can be interpreted by a computer processor to update thelocation, shape, and action of a cursor on a display. In an alternateembodiment of the SOE 100, the pre-processor 105 and gesture translator106 are integrated or combined into a single device.

Computer 107 may be any general purpose computer such as manufactured byApple, Dell, or any other suitable manufacturer. The computer 107 runsapplications and provides display output. Cursor information that wouldotherwise come from a mouse or other prior art input device now comesfrom the gesture system.

Marker Tags

The SOE or an embodiment contemplates the use of marker tags on one ormore fingers of the user so that the system can locate the hands of theuser, identify whether it is viewing a left or right hand, and whichfingers are visible. This permits the system to detect the location,orientation, and movement of the user's hands. This information allows anumber of gestures to be recognized by the system and used as commandsby the user.

The marker tags in one embodiment are physical tags comprising asubstrate (appropriate in the present embodiment for affixing to variouslocations on a human hand) and discrete markers arranged on thesubstrate's surface in unique identifying patterns.

The markers and the associated external sensing system may operate inany domain (optical, electromagnetic, magnetostatic, etc.) that allowsthe accurate, precise, and rapid and continuous acquisition of theirthree-space position. The markers themselves may operate either actively(e.g. by emitting structured electromagnetic pulses) or passively (e.g.by being optically retroreflective, as in the present embodiment).

At each frame of acquisition, the detection system receives theaggregate ‘cloud’ of recovered three-space locations comprising allmarkers from tags presently in the instrumented workspace volume (withinthe visible range of the cameras or other detectors). The markers oneach tag are of sufficient multiplicity and are arranged in uniquepatterns such that the detection system can perform the following tasks:(1) segmentation, in which each recovered marker position is assigned toone and only one subcollection of points that form a single tag; (2)labelling, in which each segmented subcollection of points is identifiedas a particular tag; (3) location, in which the three-space position ofthe identified tag is recovered; and (4) orientation, in which thethree-space orientation of the identified tag is recovered. Tasks (1)and (2) are made possible through the specific nature of themarker-patterns, as described below and as illustrated in one embodimentin FIG. 7.

The markers on the tags in one embodiment are affixed at a subset ofregular grid locations. This underlying grid may, as in the presentembodiment, be of the traditional Cartesian sort; or may instead be someother regular plane tessellation (a triangular/hexagonal tilingarrangement, for example). The scale and spacing of the grid isestablished with respect to the known spatial resolution of themarker-sensing system, so that adjacent grid locations are not likely tobe confused. Selection of marker patterns for all tags should satisfythe following constraint: no tag's pattern shall coincide with that ofany other tag's pattern through any combination of rotation,translation, or mirroring. The multiplicity and arrangement of markersmay further be chosen so that loss (or occlusion) of some specifiednumber of component markers is tolerated: After any arbitrarytransformation, it should still be unlikely to confuse the compromisedmodule with any other.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a number of tags 201A-201E (left hand) and202A-202E (right hand) are shown. Each tag is rectangular and consistsin this embodiment of a 5×7 grid array. The rectangular shape is chosenas an aid in determining orientation of the tag and to reduce thelikelihood of mirror duplicates. In the embodiment shown, there are tagsfor each finger on each hand. In some embodiments, it may be adequate touse one, two, three, or four tags per hand. Each tag has a border of adifferent grey-scale or color shade. Within this border is a 3×5 gridarray. Markers (represented by the black dots of FIG. 7) are disposed atcertain points in the grid array to provide information.

Qualifying information may be encoded in the tags' marker patternsthrough segmentation of each pattern into ‘common’ and ‘unique’subpatterns. For example, the present embodiment specifies two possible‘border patterns’, distributions of markers about a rectangularboundary. A ‘family’ of tags is thus established—the tags intended forthe left hand might thus all use the same border pattern as shown intags 201A-201E while those attached to the right hand's fingers could beassigned a different pattern as shown in tags 202A-202E. This subpatternis chosen so that in all orientations of the tags, the left pattern canbe distinguished from the right pattern. In the example illustrated, theleft hand pattern includes a marker in each corner and on marker in asecond from corner grid location. The right hand pattern has markers inonly two corners and two markers in non corner grid locations. Aninspection of the pattern reveals that as long as any three of the fourmarkers are visible, the left hand pattern can be positivelydistinguished from the left hand pattern. In one embodiment, the coloror shade of the border can also be used as an indicator of handedness.

Each tag must of course still employ a unique interior pattern, themarkers distributed within its family's common border. In the embodimentshown, it has been found that two markers in the interior grid array aresufficient to uniquely identify each of the ten fingers with noduplication due to rotation or orientation of the fingers. Even if oneof the markers is occluded, the combination of the pattern and thehandedness of the tag yields a unique identifier.

In the present embodiment, the grid locations are visually present onthe rigid substrate as an aid to the (manual) task of affixing eachretroreflective marker at its intended location. These grids and theintended marker locations are literally printed via color inkjet printeronto the substrate, which here is a sheet of (initially) flexible‘shrink-film’. Each module is cut from the sheet and then oven-baked,during which thermal treatment each module undergoes a precise andrepeatable shrinkage. For a brief interval following this procedure, thecooling tag may be shaped slightly—to follow the longitudinal curve of afinger, for example; thereafter, the substrate is suitably rigid, andmarkers may be affixed at the indicated grid points.

In one embodiment, the markers themselves are three dimensional, such assmall reflective spheres affixed to the substrate via adhesive or someother appropriate means. The three-dimensionality of the markers can bean aid in detection and location over two dimensional markers. Howevereither can be used without departing from the spirit and scope of theSOE described herein.

At present, tags are affixed via Velcro or other appropriate means to aglove worn by the operator or are alternately affixed directly to theoperator's fingers using a mild double-stick tape. In a thirdembodiment, it is possible to dispense altogether with the rigidsubstrate and affix—or ‘paint’—individual markers directly onto theoperator's fingers and hands.

Gesture Vocabulary

The SOE of an embodiment contemplates a gesture vocabulary consisting ofhand poses, orientation, hand combinations, and orientation blends. Anotation language is also implemented for designing and communicatingposes and gestures in the gesture vocabulary of the SOE. The gesturevocabulary is a system for representing instantaneous ‘pose states’ ofkinematic linkages in compact textual form. The linkages in question maybe biological (a human hand, for example; or an entire human body; or agrasshopper leg; or the articulated spine of a lemur) or may instead benonbiological (e.g. a robotic arm). In any case, the linkage may besimple (the spine) or branching (the hand). The gesture vocabularysystem of the SOE establishes for any specific linkage a constant lengthstring; the aggregate of the specific ASCII characters occupying thestring's ‘character locations’ is then a unique description of theinstantaneous state, or ‘pose’, of the linkage.

Hand Poses

FIG. 8 illustrates hand poses in an embodiment of a gesture vocabularyof the SOE, under an embodiment. The SOE supposes that each of the fivefingers on a hand is used. These fingers are codes as p-pinkie, r-ringfinger, m-middle finger, i-index finger, and t-thumb. A number of posesfor the fingers and thumbs are defined and illustrated in FIG. 8. Agesture vocabulary string establishes a single character position foreach expressible degree of freedom in the linkage (in this case, afinger). Further, each such degree of freedom is understood to bediscretized (or ‘quantized’), so that its full range of motion can beexpressed through assignment of one of a finite number of standard ASCIIcharacters at that string position. These degrees of freedom areexpressed with respect to a body-specific origin and coordinate system(the back of the hand, the center of the grasshopper's body; the base ofthe robotic arm; etc.). A small number of additional gesture vocabularycharacter positions are therefore used to express the position andorientation of the linkage ‘as a whole’ in the more global coordinatesystem.

Still referring to FIG. 8, a number of poses are defined and identifiedusing ASCII characters. Some of the poses are divided between thumb andnon-thumb. The SOE in this embodiment uses a coding such that the ASCIIcharacter itself is suggestive of the pose. However, any character mayused to represent a pose, whether suggestive or not. In addition, thereis no requirement in the embodiments to use ASCII characters for thenotation strings. Any suitable symbol, numeral, or other representationmaybe used without departing from the scope and spirit of theembodiments. For example, the notation may use two bits per finger ifdesired or some other number of bits as desired.

A curled finger is represented by the character “^” while a curled thumbby “>”. A straight finger or thumb pointing up is indicated by “1” andat an angle by “\” or “/”. “-” represents a thumb pointing straightsideways and “x” represents a thumb pointing into the plane.

Using these individual finger and thumb descriptions, a robust number ofhand poses can be defined and written using the scheme of theembodiments. Each pose is represented by five characters with the orderbeing p-r-m-i-t as described above. FIG. 8 illustrates a number of posesand a few are described here by way of illustration and example. Thehand held flat and parallel to the ground is represented by “11111”. Afist is represented by “^^^^>”. An “OK” sign is represented by “111^>”

The character strings provide the opportunity for straightforward ‘humanreadability’ when using suggestive characters. The set of possiblecharacters that describe each degree of freedom may generally be chosenwith an eye to quick recognition and evident analogy. For example, avertical bar (‘|’) would likely mean that a linkage element is‘straight’, an ell (‘L’) might mean a ninety-degree bend, and acircumflex (‘^’) could indicate a sharp bend. As noted above, anycharacters or coding may be used as desired.

Any system employing gesture vocabulary strings such as described hereinenjoys the benefit of the high computational efficiency of stringcomparison—identification of or search for any specified pose literallybecomes a ‘string compare’ (e.g. UNIX's stremp( ) function) between thedesired pose string and the instantaneous actual string. Furthermore,the use of ‘wildcard characters’ provides the programmer or systemdesigner with additional familiar efficiency and efficacy: degrees offreedom whose instantaneous state is irrelevant for a match may bespecified as an interrogation point (?); additional wildcard meaningsmay be assigned.

Orientation

In addition to the pose of the fingers and thumb, the orientation of thehand can represent information. Characters describing global-spaceorientations can also be chosen transparently: the characters ‘<’, ‘>’,‘^’, and ‘v’ may be used to indicate, when encountered in an orientationcharacter position, the ideas of left, right, up, and down. FIG. 9illustrates hand orientation descriptors and examples of coding thatcombines pose and orientation. In an embodiment, two character positionsspecify first the direction of the palm and then the direction of thefingers (if they were straight, irrespective of the fingers' actualbends). The possible characters for these two positions express a‘body-centric’ notion of orientation: ‘−’, ‘+’, ‘x’, ‘*’, ‘^’, and ‘v’describe medial, lateral, anterior (forward, away from body), posterior(backward, away from body), cranial (upward), and caudal (downward).

In the notation scheme of an embodiment, the five finger pose indicatingcharacters are followed by a colon and then two orientation charactersto define a complete command pose. In one embodiment, a start positionis referred to as an “xyz” pose where the thumb is pointing straight up,the index finger is pointing forward and the middle finger isperpendicular to the index finger, pointing to the left when the pose ismade with the right hand. This is represented by the string “^^x1-:-x”.

‘XYZ-hand’ is a technique for exploiting the geometry of the human handto allow full six-degree-of-freedom navigation of visually presentedthree-dimensional structure. Although the technique depends only on thebulk translation and rotation of the operator's hand—so that its fingersmay in principal be held in any pose desired—the present embodimentprefers a static configuration in which the index finger points awayfrom the body; the thumb points toward the ceiling; and the middlefinger points left-right. The three fingers thus describe (roughly, butwith clearly evident intent) the three mutually orthogonal axes of athree-space coordinate system: thus ‘XYZ-hand’.

XYZ-hand navigation then proceeds with the hand, fingers in a pose asdescribed above, held before the operator's body at a predetermined‘neutral location’. Access to the three translational and threerotational degrees of freedom of a three-space object (or camera) iseffected in the following natural way: left-right movement of the hand(with respect to the body's natural coordinate system) results inmovement along the computational context's x-axis; up-down movement ofthe hand results in movement along the controlled context's y-axis; andforward-back hand movement (toward/away from the operator's body)results in z-axis motion within the context. Similarly, rotation of theoperator's hand about the index finger leads to a ‘roll’ change of thecomputational context's orientation; ‘pitch’ and ‘yaw’ changes areeffected analogously, through rotation of the operator's hand about themiddle finger and thumb, respectively.

Note that while ‘computational context’ is used here to refer to theentity being controlled by the XYZ-hand method—and seems to suggesteither a synthetic three-space object or camera—it should be understoodthat the technique is equally useful for controlling the various degreesof freedom of real-world objects: the pan/tilt/roll controls of a videoor motion picture camera equipped with appropriate rotational actuators,for example. Further, the physical degrees of freedom afforded by theXYZ-hand posture may be somewhat less literally mapped even in a virtualdomain: In the present embodiment, the XYZ-hand is also used to providenavigational access to large panoramic display images, so thatleft-right and up-down motions of the operator's hand lead to theexpected left-right or up-down ‘panning’ about the image, butforward-back motion of the operator's hand maps to ‘zooming’ control.

In every case, coupling between the motion of the hand and the inducedcomputational translation/rotation may be either direct (i.e. apositional or rotational offset of the operator's hand maps one-to-one,via some linear or nonlinear function, to a positional or rotationaloffset of the object or camera in the computational context) or indirect(i.e. positional or rotational offset of the operator's hand mapsone-to-one, via some linear or nonlinear function, to a first orhigher-degree derivative of position/orientation in the computationalcontext; ongoing integration then effects a non-static change in thecomputational context's actual zero-order position/orientation). Thislatter means of control is analogous to use of a an automobile's ‘gaspedal’, in which a constant offset of the pedal leads, more or less, toa constant vehicle speed.

The ‘neutral location’ that serves as the real-world XYZ-hand's localsix-degree-of-freedom coordinate origin may be established (1) as anabsolute position and orientation in space (relative, say, to theenclosing room); (2) as a fixed position and orientation relative to theoperator herself (e.g. eight inches in front of the body, ten inchesbelow the chin, and laterally in line with the shoulder plane),irrespective of the overall position and ‘heading’ of the operator; or(3) interactively, through deliberate secondary action of the operator(using, for example, a gestural command enacted by the operator's‘other’ hand, said command indicating that the XYZ-hand's presentposition and orientation should henceforth be used as the translationaland rotational origin).

It is further convenient to provide a ‘detent’ region (or ‘dead zone’)about the XYZ-hand's neutral location, such that movements within thisvolume do not map to movements in the controlled context.

Other poses may included:

[∥|∥:vx] is a flat hand (thumb parallel to fingers) with palm facingdown and fingers forward.

[∥|∥:x^] is a flat hand with palm facing forward and fingers towardceiling.

[∥|∥:-x] is a flat hand with palm facing toward the center of the body(right if left hand, left if right hand) and fingers forward.

[^^^^-:-x] is a single-hand thumbs-up (with thumb pointing towardceiling)

[^^^|-:-x] is a mime gun pointing forward.

Two Hand Combination

The SOE of an embodiment contemplates single hand commands and poses, aswell as two-handed commands and poses. FIG. 10 illustrates examples oftwo hand combinations and associated notation in an embodiment of theSOE. Reviewing the notation of the first example, “full stop” revealsthat it comprises two closed fists. The “snapshot” example has the thumband index finger of each hand extended, thumbs pointing toward eachother, defining a goal post shaped frame. The “rudder and throttle startposition” is fingers and thumbs pointing up palms facing the screen.

Orientation Blends

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of an orientation blend in an embodimentof the SOE. In the example shown the blend is represented by enclosingpairs of orientation notations in parentheses after the finger posestring. For example, the first command shows finger positions of allpointing straight. The first pair of orientation commands would resultin the palms being flat toward the display and the second pair has thehands rotating to a 45 degree pitch toward the screen. Although pairs ofblends are shown in this example, any number of blends is contemplatedin the SOE.

Example Commands

FIGS. 13/1 and 13/2 show a number of possible commands that may be usedwith the SOE. Although some of the discussion here has been aboutcontrolling a cursor on a display, the SOE is not limited to thatactivity. In fact, the SOE has great application in manipulating any andall data and portions of data on a screen, as well as the state of thedisplay. For example, the commands may be used to take the place ofvideo controls during play back of video media. The commands may be usedto pause, fast forward, rewind, and the like. In addition, commands maybe implemented to zoom in or zoom out of an image, to change theorientation of an image, to pan in any direction, and the like. The SOEmay also be used in lieu of menu commands such as open, close, save, andthe like. In other words, any commands or activity that can be imaginedcan be implemented with hand gestures.

Operation

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of the SOE in oneembodiment. At 701 the detection system detects the markers and tags. At702 it is determined if the tags and markers are detected. If not, thesystem returns to 701. If the tags and markers are detected at 702, thesystem proceeds to 703. At 703 the system identifies the hand, fingersand pose from the detected tags and markers. At 704 the systemidentifies the orientation of the pose. At 705 the system identifies thethree dimensional spatial location of the hand or hands that aredetected. (Please note that any or all of 703, 704, and 705 may becombined).

At 706 the information is translated to the gesture notation describedabove. At 707 it is determined if the pose is valid. This may beaccomplished via a simple string comparison using the generated notationstring. If the pose is not valid, the system returns to 701. If the poseis valid, the system sends the notation and position information to thecomputer at 708. At 709 the computer determines the appropriate actionto take in response to the gesture and updates the display accordinglyat 710.

In one embodiment of the SOE, 701-705 are accomplished by the on-cameraprocessor. In other embodiments, the processing can be accomplished bythe system computer if desired.

Parsing and Translation

The system is able to “parse” and “translate” a stream of low-levelgestures recovered by an underlying system, and turn those parsed andtranslated gestures into a stream of command or event data that can beused to control a broad range of computer applications and systems.These techniques and algorithms may be embodied in a system consistingof computer code that provides both an engine implementing thesetechniques and a platform for building computer applications that makeuse of the engine's capabilities.

One embodiment is focused on enabling rich gestural use of human handsin computer interfaces, but is also able to recognize gestures made byother body parts (including, but not limited to arms, torso, legs andthe head), as well as non-hand physical tools of various kinds, bothstatic and articulating, including but not limited to calipers,compasses, flexible curve approximators, and pointing devices of variousshapes. The markers and tags may be applied to items and tools that maybe carried and used by the operator as desired.

The system described here incorporates a number of innovations that makeit possible to build gestural systems that are rich in the range ofgestures that can be recognized and acted upon, while at the same timeproviding for easy integration into applications.

The gestural parsing and translation system in one embodiment comprises:

1) a compact and efficient way to specify (encode for use in computerprograms) gestures at several different levels of aggregation:

-   -   a. a single hand's “pose” (the configuration and orientation of        the parts of the hand relative to one another) a single hand's        orientation and position in three-dimensional space.    -   b. two-handed combinations, for either hand taking into account        pose, position or both.    -   c. multi-person combinations; the system can track more than two        hands, and so more than one person can cooperatively (or        competitively, in the case of game applications) control the        target system.    -   d. sequential gestures in which poses are combined in a series;        we call these “animating” gestures.    -   e. “grapheme” gestures, in which the operator traces shapes in        space.

2) a programmatic technique for registering specific gestures from eachcategory above that are relevant to a given application context.

3) algorithms for parsing the gesture stream so that registered gesturescan be identified and events encapsulating those gestures can bedelivered to relevant application contexts.

The specification system (1), with constituent elements (1a) to (1f),provides the basis for making use of the gestural parsing andtranslating capabilities of the system described here.

A single-hand “pose” is represented as a string of

i) relative orientations between the fingers and the back of the hand,

ii) quantized into a small number of discrete states.

Using relative joint orientations allows the system described here toavoid problems associated with differing hand sizes and geometries. No“operator calibration” is required with this system. In addition,specifying poses as a string or collection of relative orientationsallows more complex gesture specifications to be easily created bycombining pose representations with further filters and specifications.

Using a small number of discrete states for pose specification makes itpossible to specify poses compactly as well as to ensure accurate poserecognition using a variety of underlying tracking technologies (forexample, passive optical tracking using cameras, active optical trackingusing lighted dots and cameras, electromagnetic field tracking, etc).

Gestures in every category (1a) to (1f) may be partially (or minimally)specified, so that non-critical data is ignored. For example, a gesturein which the position of two fingers is definitive, and other fingerpositions are unimportant, may be represented by a single specificationin which the operative positions of the two relevant fingers is givenand, within the same string, “wild cards” or generic “ignore these”indicators are listed for the other fingers.

All of the innovations described here for gesture recognition, includingbut not limited to the multi-layered specification technique, use ofrelative orientations, quantization of data, and allowance for partialor minimal specification at every level, generalize beyond specificationof hand gestures to specification of gestures using other body parts and“manufactured” tools and objects.

The programmatic techniques for “registering gestures” (2), consist of adefined set of Application Programming Interface calls that allow aprogrammer to define which gestures the engine should make available toother parts of the running system.

These API routines may be used at application set-up time, creating astatic interface definition that is used throughout the lifetime of therunning application. They may also be used during the course of the run,allowing the interface characteristics to change on the fly. Thisreal-time alteration of the interface makes it possible to,

i) build complex contextual and conditional control states,

ii) to dynamically add hysterisis to the control environment, and

iii) to create applications in which the user is able to alter or extendthe interface vocabulary of the running system itself.

Algorithms for parsing the gesture stream (3) compare gestures specifiedas in (1) and registered as in (2) against incoming low-level gesturedata. When a match for a registered gesture is recognized, event datarepresenting the matched gesture is delivered up the stack to runningapplications.

Efficient real-time matching is desired in the design of this system,and specified gestures are treated as a tree of possibilities that areprocessed as quickly as possible.

In addition, the primitive comparison operators used internally torecognize specified gestures are also exposed for the applicationsprogrammer to use, so that further comparison (flexible state inspectionin complex or compound gestures, for example) can happen even fromwithin application contexts.

Recognition “locking” semantics are an innovation of the systemdescribed here. These semantics are implied by the registration API (2)(and, to a lesser extent, embedded within the specification vocabulary(1)). Registration API calls include,

i) “entry” state notifiers and “continuation” state notifiers, and

ii) gesture priority specifiers.

If a gesture has been recognized, its “continuation” conditions takeprecedence over all “entry” conditions for gestures of the same or lowerpriorities. This distinction between entry and continuation states addssignificantly to perceived system usability.

The system described here includes algorithms for robust operation inthe face of real-world data error and uncertainty. Data from low-leveltracking systems may be incomplete (for a variety of reasons, includingocclusion of markers in optical tracking, network drop-out or processinglag, etc).

Missing data is marked by the parsing system, and interpolated intoeither “last known” or “most likely” states, depending on the amount andcontext of the missing data.

If data about a particular gesture component (for example, theorientation of a particular joint) is missing, but the “last known”state of that particular component can be analyzed as physicallypossible, the system uses this last known state in its real-timematching.

Conversely, if the last known state is analyzed as physicallyimpossible, the system falls back to a “best guess range” for thecomponent, and uses this synthetic data in its real-time matching.

The specification and parsing systems described here have been carefullydesigned to support “handedness agnosticism,” so that for multi-handgestures either hand is permitted to satisfy pose requirements.

Navigating Data Space

The SOE of an embodiment enables ‘pushback’, a linear spatial motion ofa human operator's hand, or performance of analogously dimensionalactivity, to control linear verging or trucking motion through agraphical or other data-representational space. The SOE, and thecomputational and cognitive association established by it, provides afundamental, structured way to navigate levels of scale, to traverse aprincipally linear ‘depth dimension’, or—most generally—to accessquantized or ‘detented’ parameter spaces. The SOE also provides aneffective means by which an operator may volitionally acquire additionalcontext: a rapid technique for understanding vicinities andneighborhoods, whether spatial, conceptual, or computational.

In certain embodiments, the pushback technique may employ traditionalinput devices (e.g. mouse, trackball, integrated sliders or knobs) ormay depend on tagged or tracked objects external to the operator's ownperson (e.g. instrumented kinematic linkages, magnetostatically tracked‘input bricks’). In other alternative embodiments, a pushbackimplementation may suffice as the whole of a control system.

The SOE of an embodiment is a component of and integrated into a largerspatial interaction system that supplants customary mouse-basedgraphical user interface ('WIMP′ UI) methods for control of a computer,comprising instead (a) physical sensors that can track one or more typesof object (e.g., human hands, objects on human hands, inanimate objects,etc.); (b) an analysis component for analyzing the evolving position,orientation, and pose of the sensed hands into a sequence of gesturalevents; (c) a descriptive scheme for representing such spatial andgestural events; (d) a framework for distributing such events to andwithin control programs; (e) methods for synchronizing the human intent(the commands) encoded by the stream of gestural events with graphical,aural, and other display-modal depictions of both the event streamitself and of the application-specific consequences of eventinterpretation, all of which are described in detail below. In such anembodiment, the pushback system is integrated with additional spatialand gestural input-and-interface techniques.

Generally, the navigation of a data space comprises detecting a gestureof a body from gesture data received via a detector. The gesture data isabsolute three-space location data of an instantaneous state of the bodyat a point in time and physical space. The detecting comprisesidentifying the gesture using the gesture data. The navigating comprisestranslating the gesture to a gesture signal, and navigating through thedata space in response to the gesture signal. The data space is adata-representational space comprising a dataset represented in thephysical space.

When an embodiment's overall round-trip latency (hand motion to sensorsto pose analysis to pushback interpretation system to computer graphicsrendering to display device back to operator's visual system) is keptlow (e.g., an embodiment exhibits latency of approximately fifteenmilliseconds) and when other parameters of the system are properlytuned, the perceptual consequence of pushback interaction is a distinctsense of physical causality: the SOE literalizes the physically resonantmetaphor of pushing against a spring-loaded structure. The perceivedcausality is a highly effective feedback; along with other more abstractgraphical feedback modalities provided by the pushback system, and witha deliberate suppression of certain degrees of freedom in theinterpretation of operator movement, such feedback in turn permitsstable, reliable, and repeatable use of both gross and fine human motoractivity as a control mechanism.

In evaluating the context of the SOE, many datasets are inherentlyspatial: they represent phenomena, events, measurements, observations,or structure within a literal physical space. For other datasets thatare more abstract or that encode literal yet non-spatial information, itis often desirable to prepare a representation (visual, aural, orinvolving other display modalities) some fundamental aspect of which iscontrolled by a single, scalar-valued parameter; associating thatparameter with a spatial dimension is then frequently also beneficial.It is manipulation of this single scalar parameter, as is detailedbelow, which benefits from manipulation by means of the pushbackmechanism.

Representations may further privilege a small plurality of discretevalues of their parameter—indeed, sometimes only one—at which thedataset is optimally regarded. In such cases it is useful to speak of a‘detented parameter’ or, if the parameter has been explicitly mappedonto one dimension of a representational space, of ‘detented space’. Useof the term ‘detented’ herein is intended to evoke not only thepreferential quantization of the parameter but also the visuo-hapticsensation of ratchets, magnetic alignment mechanisms, jog-shuttlewheels, and the wealth of other worldly devices that are possessed ofdeliberate mechanical detents.

Self-evident yet crucially important examples of such parameters includebut are not limited to (1) the distance of a synthetic camera, in acomputer graphics environment, from a renderable representation of adataset; (2) the density at which data is sampled from the originaldataset and converted into renderable form; (3) the temporal index atwhich samples are retrieved from a time-varying dataset and converted toa renderable representation. These are universal approaches; countlessdomain-specific parameterizations also exist.

The pushback of the SOE generally aligns the dataset's parameter-controlaxis with a locally relevant ‘depth dimension’ in physical space, andallows structured real-world motion along the depth dimension to effecta data-space translation along the control axis. The result is a highlyefficient means for navigating a parameter space. Following are detaileddescriptions of representative embodiments of the pushback asimplemented in the SOE.

In a pushback example, an operator stands at a comfortable distancebefore a large wall display on which appears a single ‘data frame’comprising text and imagery, which graphical data elements may be staticor dynamic. The data frame, for example, can include an image, but isnot so limited. The data frame, itself a two-dimensional construct, isnonetheless resident in a three-dimensional computer graphics renderingenvironment whose underlying coordinate system has been arranged tocoincide with real-world coordinates convenient for describing the roomand its contents, including the display and the operator.

The operator's hands are tracked by sensors that resolve the positionand orientation of her fingers, and possibly of the overall hand masses,to high precision and at a high temporal rate; the system analyzes theresulting spatial data in order to characterize the ‘pose’ of eachhand—i.e. the geometric disposition of the fingers relative to eachother and to the hand mass. While this example embodiment tracks anobject that is a human hand(s), numerous other objects could be trackedas input devices in alternative embodiments. One example is a one-sidedpushback scenario in which the body is an operator's hand in the openposition, palm facing in a forward direction (along the z-axis) (e.g.,toward a display screen in front of the operator). For the purposes ofthis description, the wall display is taken to occupy the x and ydimensions; z describes the dimension between the operator and thedisplay. The gestural interaction space associated with this pushbackembodiment comprises two spaces abutted at a plane of constant z; thedetented interval space farther from the display (i.e. closer to theoperator) is termed the ‘dead zone’, while the closer half-space is the‘active zone’. The dead zone extends indefinitely in the backwarddirection (toward the operator and away from the display) but only afinite distance forward, ending at the dead zone threshold. The activezone extends from the dead zone threshold forward to the display. Thedata frame(s) rendered on the display are interactively controlled or“pushed back” by movements of the body in the active zone.

The data frame is constructed at a size and aspect ratio preciselymatching those of the display, and is positioned and oriented so thatits center and normal vector coincide with those physical attributes ofthe display, although the embodiment is not so limited. The virtualcamera used to render the scene is located directly forward from thedisplay and at roughly the distance of the operator. In this context,the rendered frame thus precisely fills the display.

Arranged logically to the left and right of the visible frame are anumber of additional coplanar data frames, uniformly spaced and with amodest gap separating each from its immediate neighbors. Because theylie outside the physical/virtual rendering bounds of the computergraphics rendering geometry, these laterally displaced adjacent dataframes are not initially visible. As will be seen, the data space—givenits geometric structure—is possessed of a single natural detent in thez-direction and a plurality of x-detents.

The operator raises her left hand, held in a loose fist pose, to hershoulder. She then extends the fingers so that they point upward and thethumb so that it points to the right; her palm faces the screen (in thegestural description language described in detail below, this posetransition would be expressed as [^^^^>:x^into ∥|∥-:x^]). The system,detecting the new pose, triggers pushback interaction and immediatelyrecords the absolute three-space hand position at which the pose wasfirst entered: this position is used as the ‘origin’ from whichsubsequent hand motions will be reported as relative offsets.

Immediately, two concentric, partially transparent glyphs aresuperimposed on the center of the frame (and thus at the display'scenter). For example, the glyphs can indicate body pushback gestures inthe dead zone up to a point of the dead zone threshold. That the secondglyph is smaller than the first glyph is an indication that theoperator's hand resides in the dead zone, through which the pushbackoperation is not ‘yet’ engaged. As the operator moves her hand forward(toward the dead zone threshold and the display), the second glyphincrementally grows. The second glyph is equivalent in size to the firstglyph at the point at which the operator's hand is at the dead zonethreshold. The glyphs of this example describe the evolution of theglyph's concentric elements as the operator's hand travels forward fromits starting position toward the dead zone threshold separating the deadzone from the active zone. The inner “toothy” part of the glyph, forexample, grows as the hand nears the threshold, and is arranged so thatthe radius of the inner glyph and (static) outer glyph precisely matchas the hand reaches the threshold position.

The second glyph shrinks in size inside the first glyph as the operatormoves her hand away from the dead zone threshold and away from thedisplay, remaining however always concentric with the first glyph andcentered on the display. Crucially, only the z-component of theoperator's hand motion is mapped into the glyph's scaling; incidental x-and y-components of the hand motion make no contribution.

When the operator's hand traverses the forward threshold of the deadzone, crossing into the active zone, the pushback mechanism is engaged.The relative z-position of the hand (measured from the threshold) issubjected to a scaling function and the resulting value is used toeffect a z-axis displacement of the data frame and its lateralneighbors, so that the rendered image of the frame is seen to recedefrom the display; the neighboring data frames also then become visible,‘filling in’ from the edges of the display space—the constant angularsubtent of the synthetic camera geometrically ‘captures’ more of theplane in which the frames lie as that plane moves away from the camera.The z-displacement is continuously updated, so that the operator,pushing her hand toward the display and pulling it back toward herself,perceives the lateral collection of frames receding and verging indirect response to her movements

As an example of a first relative z-axis displacement of the data frameresulting from corresponding pushback, the rendered image of the dataframe is seen to recede from the display and the neighboring data framesbecome visible, ‘filling in’ from the edges of the display space. Theneighboring data frames, which include a number of additional coplanardata frames, are arranged logically to the left and right of the visibleframe, uniformly spaced and with a modest gap separating each from itsimmediate neighbors. As an example of a second relative z-axisdisplacement of the data frame resulting from corresponding pushback,and considering the first relative z-axis displacement, and assumingfurther pushing of the operator's hand (pushing further along the z-axistoward the display and away from the operator) from that pushingresulting in the first relative z-axis displacement, the rendered imageof the frame is seen to further recede from the display so thatadditional neighboring data frames become visible, further ‘filling in’from the edges of the display space.

The paired concentric glyphs, meanwhile, now exhibit a modifiedfeedback: with the operator's hand in the active zone, the second glyphswitches from scaling-based reaction to a rotational reaction in whichthe hand's physical z-axis offset from the threshold is mapped into apositive (in-plane) angular offset. In an example of the glyphsindicating body pushback gestures in the dead zone beyond the point ofthe dead zone threshold (along the z-axis toward the display and awayfrom the operator), the glyphs depict the evolution of the glyph oncethe operator's hand has crossed the dead zone threshold—i.e. when thepushback mechanism has been actively engaged. The operator's handmovements toward and away from the display are thus visually indicatedby clockwise and anticlockwise rotation of the second glyph (with thefirst glyph, as before, providing a static reference state), such thatthe “toothy” element of the glyph rotates as a linear function of thehand's offset from the threshold, turning linear motion into arotational representation.

Therefore, in this example, an additional first increment of handmovement along the z-axis toward the display is visually indicated by anincremental clockwise rotation of the second glyph (with the firstglyph, as before, providing a static reference state), such that the“toothy” element of the glyph rotates a first amount corresponding to alinear function of the hand's offset from the threshold. An additionalsecond increment of hand movement along the z-axis toward the display isvisually indicated by an incremental clockwise rotation of the secondglyph (with the first glyph, as before, providing a static referencestate), such that the “toothy” element of the glyph rotates a secondamount corresponding to a linear function of the hand's offset from thethreshold. Further, a third increment of hand movement along the z-axistoward the display is visually indicated by an incremental clockwiserotation of the second glyph (with the first glyph, as before, providinga static reference state), such that the “toothy” element of the glyphrotates a third amount corresponding to a linear function of the hand'soffset from the threshold.

In this sample application, a secondary dimensional sensitivity isengaged when the operator's hand is in the active zone: lateral (x-axis)motion of the hand is mapped, again through a possible scaling function,to x-displacement of the horizontal frame sequence. If the scalingfunction is positive, the effect is one of positional ‘following’ of theoperator's hand, and she perceives that she is sliding the frames leftand right. As an example of a lateral x-axis displacement of the dataframe resulting from lateral motion of the body, the data frames slidefrom left to right such that particular data frames disappear orpartially disappear from view via the left edge of the display spacewhile additional data frames fill in from the right edge of the displayspace.

Finally, when the operator causes her hand to exit the palm-forward pose(by, e.g., closing the hand into a fist), the pushback interaction isterminated and the collection of frames is rapidly returned to itsoriginal z-detent (i.e. coplanar with the display). Simultaneously, theframe collection is laterally adjusted to achieve x-coincidence of asingle frame with the display; which frame ends thus ‘display-centered’is whichever was closest to the concentric glyphs' center at the instantof pushback termination: the nearest x-detent. The glyph structure ishere seen serving a second function, as a selection reticle, but theembodiment is not so limited. The z- and x-positions of the framecollection are typically allowed to progress to their finaldisplay-coincident values over a short time interval in order to providea visual sense of ‘spring-loaded return’.

The pushback system as deployed in this example provides efficientcontrol modalities for (1) acquiring cognitively valuable ‘neighborhoodcontext’ by variably displacing an aggregate dataset along the directvisual sightline—the depth dimension—thereby bringing more of thedataset into view (in exchange for diminishing the angular subtent ofany given part of the dataset); (2) acquiring neighborhood context byvariably displacing the laterally-arrayed dataset along its naturalhorizontal dimension, maintaining the angular subtent of any givensection of data but trading the visibility of old data for that of newdata, in the familiar sense of ‘scrolling’; (3) selecting discretizedelements of the dataset through rapid and dimensionally-constrainednavigation.

In another example of the pushback of an embodiment, an operator standsimmediately next to a waist-level display device whose active surfacelies in a horizontal plane parallel to the floor. The coordinate systemis here established in a way consistent with that of the previousexample: the display surface lies in the x-z plane, so that the y-axis,representing the normal to the surface, is aligned in opposition to thephysical gravity vector.

In an example physical scenario in which the body is held horizontallyabove a table-like display surface, the body is an operator's hand, butthe embodiment is not so limited. The pushback interaction isdouble-sided, so that there is an upper dead zone threshold and a lowerdead zone threshold. Additionally, the linear space accessed by thepushback maneuver is provided with discrete spatial detents (e.g.,“1^(st) detent”, “2^(nd) detent”, “3^(rd) detent”, “4^(th) detent”) inthe upper active zone, and discrete spatial detents (e.g., “1^(st)detent”, “2^(nd) detent”, “3^(rd) detent”, “4^(th) detent”) in the loweractive zone. The interaction space of an embodiment is configured sothat a relatively small dead zone comprising an upper dead zone and alower dead zone is centered at the vertical (y-axis) position at whichpushback is engaged, with an active zone above the dead zone and anactive zone below the dead zone.

The operator is working with an example dataset that has been analyzedinto a stack of discrete parallel planes that are the data frames. Thedataset may be arranged that way as a natural consequence of thephysical reality it represents (e.g. discrete slices from a tomographicscan, the multiple layers of a three-dimensional integrated circuit,etc.) or because it is logical or informative to separate and discretizethe data (e.g., satellite imagery acquired in a number of spectralbands, geographically organized census data with each decade's data in aseparate layer, etc.). The visual representation of the data may furtherbe static or include dynamic elements.

During intervals when pushback functionality is not engaged, a singlelayer is considered ‘current’ and is represented with visual prominenceby the display, and is perceived to be physically coincident with thedisplay. Layers above and below the current layer are in this examplenot visually manifest (although a compact iconography is used toindicate their presence).

The operator extends his closed right hand over the display; when heopens the hand—fingers extended forward, thumb to the left, and palmpointed downward (transition: [^^^^>:vx into ∥∥:vx])—the pushback systemis engaged. During a brief interval (e.g., 200 milliseconds), somenumber of layers adjacent to the current layer fade up with differentialvisibility; each is composited below or above with a blur filter and atransparency whose ‘seventies’ are dependent on the layer's ordinaldistance from the current layer.

For example, a layer (e.g., data frame) adjacent to the current layer(e.g., data frame) fades up with differential visibility as the pushbacksystem is engaged. In this example, the stack comprises numerous dataframes (any number as appropriate to datasets of the data frames) thatcan be traversed using the pushback system.

Simultaneously, the concentric feedback glyphs familiar from theprevious example appear; in this case, the interaction is configured sothat a small dead zone is centered at the vertical (y-axis) position atwhich pushback is engaged, with an active zone both above and below thedead zone. This arrangement provides assistance in ‘regaining’ theoriginal layer. The glyphs are in this case accompanied by anadditional, simple graphic that indicates directed proximity tosuccessive layers.

While the operator's hand remains in the dead zone, no displacement ofthe layer stack occurs. The glyphs exhibit a ‘preparatory’ behavioridentical to that in the preceding example, with the inner glyph growingas the hand nears either boundary of the zone (of course, here thebehavior is double-sided and symmetric: the inner glyph is at a minimumscale at the hand's starting y-position and grows toward coincidencewith the outer glyph whether the hand moves up or down).

As the operator's hand moves upward past the dead zone's upper plane,the inner glyph engages the outer glyph and, as before, further movementof the hand in that direction causes anticlockwise rotational motion ofthe inner glyph. At the same time, the layer stack begins to ‘translateupward’: those layers above the originally-current layer take on greatertransparency and blur; the originally-current layer itself becomes moretransparent and more blurred; and the layers below it move toward morevisibility and less blur.

In another example of upward translation of the stack, thepreviously-current layer takes on greater transparency (becomesinvisible in this example), while the layer adjacent to thepreviously-current layer becomes visible as the presently-current layer.Additionally, layer adjacent to the presently-current layer fades upwith differential visibility as the stack translates upward. Asdescribed above, the stack comprises numerous data frames (any number asappropriate to datasets of the data frames) that can be traversed usingthe pushback system.

The layer stack is configured with a mapping between real-worlddistances (i.e. the displacement of the operator's hand from its initialposition, as measured in room coordinates) and the ‘logical’ distancebetween successive layers. The translation of the layer stack is, ofcourse, the result of this mapping, as is the instantaneous appearanceof the proximity graphic, which meanwhile indicates (at first) a growingdistance between the display plane and the current layer; it alsoindicates that the display plane is at present below the current layer.

The hand's motion continues and the layer stack eventually passes theposition at which the current layer and the next one below exactlystraddle (i.e. are equidistant from) the display plane; just past thispoint the proximity graphic changes to indicate that the display planeis now higher than the current layer: ‘current layer status’ has nowbeen assigned to the next lower layer. In general, the current layer isalways the one closest to the physical display plane, and is the onethat will be ‘selected’ when the operator disengages the pushbacksystem.

As the operator continues to raise his hand, each consecutive layer isbrought toward the display plane, becoming progressively more resolved,gaining momentary coincidence with the display plane, and then returningtoward transparency and blur in favor of the next lower layer. When theoperator reverses the direction of his hand's motion, lowering it, theprocess is reversed, and the inner glyph rotates clockwise. As the handeventually passes through the dead zone the stack halts with theoriginally-current layer in precise y-alignment with the display plane;and then y-travel of the stack resumes, bringing into successive focusthose planes above the originally-current layer. The operator's overallperception is strongly and simply that he is using his hand to push downand pull up a stack of layers.

When at last the operator releases pushback by closing his hand (orotherwise changing its pose) the system ‘springs’ the stack intodetented y-axis alignment with the display plane, leaving as the currentlayer whichever was closest to the display plane as pushback was exited.During the brief interval of this positional realignment, all otherlayers fade back to complete transparency and the feedback glyphssmoothly vanish.

The discretized elements of the dataset (here, layers) of this exampleare distributed along the principal pushback (depth) axis; previously,the elements (data frames) were coplanar and arrayed laterally, along adimension orthogonal to the depth axis. This present arrangement, alongwith the deployment of transparency techniques, means that data is oftensuperimposed—some layers are viewed through others. The operator in thisexample nevertheless also enjoys (1) a facility for rapidly gainingneighborhood context (what are the contents of the layers above andbelow the current layer?); and (2) a facility for efficiently selectingand switching among parallel, stacked elements in the dataset. When theoperator intends (1) alone, the provision of a dead zone allows him toreturn confidently to the originally selected layer. Throughout themanipulation, the suppression of two translational dimensions enablesspeed and accuracy (it is comparatively difficult for most humans totranslate a hand vertically with no lateral drift, but the modality asdescribed simply ignores any such lateral displacement).

It is noted that for certain purposes it may be convenient to configurethe pushback input space so that the dead zone is of infinitesimalextent; then, as soon as pushback is engaged, its active mechanisms arealso engaged. In the second example presented herein this would meanthat the originally-current layer is treated no differently—once thepushback maneuver has begun—from any other. Empirically, the linearextent of the dead zone is a matter of operator preference.

The modalities described in this second example are pertinent across awide variety of displays, including both two-dimensional (whetherprojected or emissive) and three-dimensional (whether autostereoscopicor not, aerial-image-producing or not, etc.) devices. In high-qualityimplementations of the latter—i.e. 3D—case, certain characteristics ofthe medium can vastly aid the perceptual mechanisms that underliepushback. For example, a combination of parallax, optical depth offield, and ocular accommodation phenomena can allow multiple layers tobe apprehended simultaneously, thus eliminating the need to severelyfade and blur (or indeed to exclude altogether) layers distant from thedisplay plane. The modalities apply, further, irrespective of theorientation of the display: it may be principally horizontal, as in theexample, or may just as usefully be mounted at eye-height on a wall.

An extension to the scenario of this second example depicts theusefulness of two-handed manipulation. In certain applications,translating either the entire layer stack or an individual layerlaterally (i.e. in the x and z directions) is necessary. In anembodiment, the operator's other—that is, non-pushback—hand can effectthis transformation, for example through a modality in which bringingthe hand into close proximity to the display surface allows one of thedataset's layers to be ‘slid around’, so that its offset x-z positionfollows that of the hand.

Operators may generally find it convenient and easily tractable toundertake lateral translation and pushback manipulations simultaneously.It is perhaps not wholly fatuous to propose that the assignment ofcontinuous-domain manipulations to one hand and discrete-style work tothe other may act to optimize cognitive load.

It is informative to consider yet another example of pushback under theSOE in which there is no natural visual aspect to the dataset.Representative is the problem of monitoring a plurality of audiochannels and of intermittently selecting one from among the collection.An application of the pushback system enables such a task in anenvironment outfitted for aural but not visual output; the modality isremarkably similar to that of the preceding example.

An operator, standing or seated, is listening to a single channel ofaudio. Conceptually, this audio exists in the vertical plane—called the‘aural plane’—that geometrically includes her ears; additional channelsof audio are resident in additional planes parallel to the aural planebut displaced forward and back, along the z-axis.

Opening her hand, held nine inches in front of her, with palm facingforward, she engages the pushback system. The audio in several proximalplanes fades up differentially; the volume of each depends inversely onits ordinal distance from the current channel's plane. In practice, itis perceptually unrealistic to allow more than two or four additionalchannels to become audible. At the same time, an ‘audio glyph’ fades upto provide proximity feedback. Initially, while the operator's hand isheld in the dead zone, the glyph is a barely audible two-note chord(initially in unison).

As the operator moves her hand forward or backward through the deadzone, the volumes of the audio channels remain fixed while that of theglyph increases. When the hand crosses the front or rear threshold ofthe dead zone, the glyph reaches its ‘active’ volume (which is stillsubordinate to the current channel's volume).

Once the operator's hand begins moving through the active zone—in theforward direction, say—the expected effect on the audio channelsobtains: the current channel plane is pushed farther from the auralplane, and its volume (and the volumes of those channels still fartherforward) is progressively reduced. The volume of each ‘dorsal’ channelplane, on the other hand, increases as it nears the aural plane.

The audio glyph, meanwhile, has switched modes. The hand's forwardprogress is accompanied by the rise in frequency of one of the tones; atthe ‘midway point’, when the aural plane bisects one audio channel planeand the next, the tones form an exact fifth (mathematically, it shouldbe a tritone interval, but there is an abundance of reasons that this isto be eschewed). The variable tone's frequency continues rising as thehand continues farther forward, until eventually the operator ‘reaches’the next audio plane, at which point the tones span precisely an octave.

Audition of the various channels proceeds, the operator translating herhand forward and back to access each in turn. Finally, to select one shemerely closes her hand, concluding the pushback session and causing thecollection of audio planes to ‘spring’ into alignment. The other(non-selected) channels fade to inaudibility, as does the glyph.

This example has illustrated a variant on pushback application in whichthe same facilities are again afforded: access to neighborhood contextand rapid selection of discretized data element (here, an individualaudio stream). The scenario substitutes an aural feedback mechanism, andin particular one that exploits the reliable human capacity fordiscerning certain frequency intervals, to provide the operator withinformation about whether she is ‘close enough’ to a target channel tomake a selection. This is particularly important in the case of voicechannels, in which ‘audible’ signals are only intermittently present;the continuous nature of the audio feedback glyph leaves it present andlegible even when the channel itself has gone silent.

It is noted that if the SOE in this present example includes thecapacity for spatialized audio, the perception of successive audiolayers receding into the forward distance and approaching from the back(or vice versa) may be greatly enhanced. Further, the opportunity tomore literally ‘locate’ the selected audio plane at the position of theoperator, with succeeding layers in front of the operator and precedinglayers behind, is usefully exploitable.

Other instantiations of the audio glyph are possible, and indeed thenature of the various channels' contents, including their spectraldistributions, tends to dictate which kind of glyph will be most clearlydiscernible. By way of example, another audio glyph format maintainsconstant volume but employs periodic clicking, with the interval betweenclicks proportional to the proximity between the aural plane and theclosest audio channel plane. Finally, under certain circumstances, anddepending on the acuity of the operator, it is possible to use audiopushback with no feedback glyph at all.

With reference to the pushback mechanism, as the number and density ofspatial detents in the dataset's representation increases toward thevery large, the space and its parameterization becomes effectivelycontinuous—that is to say, non-detented. Pushback remains nonethelesseffective at such extremes, in part because the dataset's ‘initialstate’ prior to each invocation of pushback may be treated as atemporary detent, realized simply as a dead zone.

An application of such non-detented pushback may be found in connectionwith the idea of an infinitely (or at least substantially) zoomablediagram. Pushback control of zoom functionality associates offset handposition with affine scale value, so that as the operator pushes hishand forward or back the degree of zoom decreases or increases(respectively). The original, pre-pushback zoom state is always readilyaccessible, however, because the direct mapping of position to zoomparameter insures that returning the control hand to the dead zone alsoeffects return of the zoom value to its initial state.

Each scenario described in the examples above provides a description ofthe salient aspects of the pushback system and its use under the SOE. Itshould further be understood that each of the maneuvers described hereincan be accurately and comprehensibly undertaken in a second or less,because of the efficiency and precision enabled by allowing a particularkind of perceptual feedback to guide human movement. At other times,operators also find it useful to remain in a single continuous pushback‘session’ for tens of seconds: exploratory and context-acquisition goalsare well served by pushback over longer intervals.

The examples described above employed a linear mapping of physical input(gesture) space to representational space: translating the control handby A units in real space always results in a translation by B units[prime] in the representational space, irrespective of the real-spaceposition at which the A-translation is undertaken. However, othermappings are possible. In particular, the degree of fine motor controlenjoyed by most human operators allows the use of nonlinear mappings, inwhich for example differential gestural translations far from the activethreshold can translate into larger displacements along theparameterized dimension than do gestural translations near thethreshold.

Coincident Virtual/Display and Physical Spaces

The system can provide an environment in which virtual space depicted onone or more display devices (“screens”) is treated as coincident withthe physical space inhabited by the operator or operators of the system.An embodiment of such an environment is described here. This currentembodiment includes three projector-driven screens at fixed locations,is driven by a single desktop computer, and is controlled using thegestural vocabulary and interface system described herein. Note,however, that any number of screens are supported by the techniquesbeing described; that those screens may be mobile (rather than fixed);that the screens may be driven by many independent computerssimultaneously; and that the overall system can be controlled by anyinput device or technique.

The interface system described in this disclosure should have a means ofdetermining the dimensions, orientations and positions of screens inphysical space. Given this information, the system is able todynamically map the physical space in which these screens are located(and which the operators of the system inhabit) as a projection into thevirtual space of computer applications running on the system. As part ofthis automatic mapping, the system also translates the scale, angles,depth, dimensions and other spatial characteristics of the two spaces ina variety of ways, according to the needs of the applications that arehosted by the system.

This continuous translation between physical and virtual space makespossible the consistent and pervasive use of a number of interfacetechniques that are difficult to achieve on existing applicationplatforms or that must be implemented piece-meal for each applicationrunning on existing platforms. These techniques include (but are notlimited to):

1) Use of “literal pointing”—using the hands in a gestural interfaceenvironment, or using physical pointing tools or devices—as a pervasiveand natural interface technique.

2) Automatic compensation for movement or repositioning of screens.

3) Graphics rendering that changes depending on operator position, forexample simulating parallax shifts to enhance depth perception.

4) Inclusion of physical objects in on-screen display—taking intoaccount real-world position, orientation, state, etc. For example, anoperator standing in front of a large, opaque screen, could see bothapplications graphics and a representation of the true position of ascale model that is behind the screen (and is, perhaps, moving orchanging orientation).

It is important to note that literal pointing is different from theabstract pointing used in mouse-based windowing interfaces and mostother contemporary systems. In those systems, the operator must learn tomanage a translation between a virtual pointer and a physical pointingdevice, and must map between the two cognitively.

By contrast, in the systems described in this disclosure, there is nodifference between virtual and physical space (except that virtual spaceis more amenable to mathematical manipulation), either from anapplication or user perspective, so there is no cognitive translationrequired of the operator.

The closest analogy for the literal pointing provided by the embodimentdescribed here is the touch-sensitive screen (as found, for example, onmany ATM machines). A touch-sensitive screen provides a one to onemapping between the two-dimensional display space on the screen and thetwo-dimensional input space of the screen surface. In an analogousfashion, the systems described here provide a flexible mapping(possibly, but not necessarily, one to one) between a virtual spacedisplayed on one or more screens and the physical space inhabited by theoperator. Despite the usefulness of the analogy, it is worthunderstanding that the extension of this “mapping approach” to threedimensions, an arbritrarialy large architectural environment, andmultiple screens is non-trivial.

In addition to the components described herein, the system may alsoimplement algorithms implementing a continuous, systems-level mapping(perhaps modified by rotation, translation, scaling or other geometricaltransformations) between the physical space of the environment and thedisplay space on each screen.

A rendering stack which takes the computational objects and the mappingand outputs a graphical representation of the virtual space.

An input events processing stack which takes event data from a controlsystem (in the current embodiment both gestural and pointing data fromthe system and mouse input) and maps spatial data from input events tocoordinates in virtual space. Translated events are then delivered torunning applications.

A “glue layer” allowing the system to host applications running acrossseveral computers on a local area network.

Embodiments of a spatial-continuum input system are described herein ascomprising network-based data representation, transit, and interchangethat includes a system called “plasma” that comprises subsystems“slawx”, “proteins”, and “pools”, as described in detail below. Thepools and proteins are components of methods and systems describedherein for encapsulating data that is to be shared between or acrossprocesses. These mechanisms also include slawx (plural of “slaw”) inaddition to the proteins and pools. Generally, slawx provide thelowest-level of data definition for inter-process exchange, proteinsprovide mid-level structure and hooks for querying and filtering, andpools provide for high-level organization and access semantics. Slawxinclude a mechanism for efficient, platform-independent datarepresentation and access. Proteins provide a data encapsulation andtransport scheme using slawx as the payload. Pools provide structuredand flexible aggregation, ordering, filtering, and distribution ofproteins within a process, among local processes, across a networkbetween remote or distributed processes, and via longer term (e.g.on-disk, etc.) storage.

The configuration and implementation of the embodiments described hereininclude several constructs that together enable numerous capabilities.For example, the embodiments described herein provide efficient exchangeof data between large numbers of processes as described above. Theembodiments described herein also provide flexible data “typing” andstructure, so that widely varying kinds and uses of data are supported.Furthermore, embodiments described herein include flexible mechanismsfor data exchange (e.g., local memory, disk, network, etc.), all drivenby substantially similar application programming interfaces (APIs).Moreover, embodiments described enable data exchange between processeswritten in different programming languages. Additionally, embodimentsdescribed herein enable automatic maintenance of data caching andaggregate state.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a processing environment including datarepresentations using slawx, proteins, and pools, under an embodiment.The principal constructs of the embodiments presented herein includeslawx (plural of “slaw”), proteins, and pools. Slawx as described hereinincludes a mechanism for efficient, platform-independent datarepresentation and access. Proteins, as described in detail herein,provide a data encapsulation and transport scheme, and the payload of aprotein of an embodiment includes slawx. Pools, as described herein,provide structured yet flexible aggregation, ordering, filtering, anddistribution of proteins. The pools provide access to data, by virtue ofproteins, within a process, among local processes, across a networkbetween remote or distributed processes, and via ‘longer term’ (e.g.on-disk) storage.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a protein, under an embodiment. Theprotein includes a length header, a descrip, and an ingest. Each of thedescrip and ingest includes slaw or slawx, as described in detail below.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a descrip, under an embodiment. Thedescrip includes an offset, a length, and slawx, as described in detailbelow.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of an ingest, under an embodiment. The ingestincludes an offset, a length, and slawx, as described in detail below.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a slaw, under an embodiment. The slawincludes a type header and type-specific data, as described in detailbelow.

FIG. 19A is a block diagram of a protein in a pool, under an embodiment.The protein includes a length header (“protein length”), a descripsoffset, an ingests offset, a descrip, and an ingest. The descripsincludes an offset, a length, and a slaw. The ingest includes an offset,a length, and a slaw.

The protein as described herein is a mechanism for encapsulating datathat needs to be shared between processes, or moved across a bus ornetwork or other processing structure. As an example, proteins providean improved mechanism for transport and manipulation of data includingdata corresponding to or associated with user interface events; inparticular, the user interface events of an embodiment include those ofthe gestural interface described above. As a further example, proteinsprovide an improved mechanism for transport and manipulation of dataincluding, but not limited to, graphics data or events, and stateinformation, to name a few. A protein is a structured record format andan associated set of methods for manipulating records. Manipulation ofrecords as used herein includes putting data into a structure, takingdata out of a structure, and querying the format and existence of data.Proteins are configured to be used via code written in a variety ofcomputer languages. Proteins are also configured to be the basicbuilding block for pools, as described herein. Furthermore, proteins areconfigured to be natively able to move between processors and acrossnetworks while maintaining intact the data they include.

In contrast to conventional data transport mechanisms, proteins areuntyped. While being untyped, the proteins provide a powerful andflexible pattern-matching facility, on top of which “type-like”functionality is implemented. Proteins configured as described hereinare also inherently multi-point (although point-to-point forms areeasily implemented as a subset of multi-point transmission).Additionally, proteins define a “universal” record format that does notdiffer (or differs only in the types of optional optimizations that areperformed) between in-memory, on-disk, and on-the-wire (network)formats, for example.

Referring to FIGS. 15 and 19A, a protein of an embodiment is a linearsequence of bytes. Within these bytes are encapsulated a descrips listand a set of key-value pairs called ingests. The descrips list includesan arbitrarily elaborate but efficiently filterable per-protein eventdescription. The ingests include a set of key-value pairs that comprisethe actual contents of the protein.

Proteins' concern with key-value pairs, as well as some core ideas aboutnetwork-friendly and multi-point data interchange, is shared withearlier systems that privilege the concept of “tuples” (e.g., Linda,Jini). Proteins differ from tuple-oriented systems in several majorways, including the use of the descrips list to provide a standard,optimizable pattern matching substrate. Proteins also differ fromtuple-oriented systems in the rigorous specification of a record formatappropriate for a variety of storage and language constructs, along withseveral particular implementations of “interfaces” to that recordformat.

Turning to a description of proteins, the first four or eight bytes of aprotein specify the protein's length, which must be a multiple of 16bytes in an embodiment. This 16-byte granularity ensures thatbyte-alignment and bus-alignment efficiencies are achievable oncontemporary hardware. A protein that is not naturally “quad-wordaligned” is padded with arbitrary bytes so that its length is a multipleof 16 bytes.

The length portion of a protein has the following format: 32 bitsspecifying length, in big-endian format, with the four lowest-order bitsserving as flags to indicate macro-level protein structurecharacteristics; followed by 32 further bits if the protein's length isgreater than 2′12 bytes.

The 16-byte-alignment proviso of an embodiment means that the lowestorder bits of the first four bytes are available as flags. And so thefirst three low-order bit flags indicate whether the protein's lengthcan be expressed in the first four bytes or requires eight, whether theprotein uses big-endian or little-endian byte ordering, and whether theprotein employs standard or non-standard structure, respectively, butthe protein is not so limited. The fourth flag bit is reserved forfuture use.

If the eight-byte length flag bit is set, the length of the protein iscalculated by reading the next four bytes and using them as thehigh-order bytes of a big-endian, eight-byte integer (with the fourbytes already read supplying the low-order portion). If thelittle-endian flag is set, all binary numerical data in the protein isto be interpreted as little-endian (otherwise, big-endian). If thenon-standard flag bit is set, the remainder of the protein does notconform to the standard structure to be described below.

Non-standard protein structures will not be discussed further herein,except to say that there are various methods for describing andsynchronizing on non-standard protein formats available to a systemsprogrammer using proteins and pools, and that these methods can beuseful when space or compute cycles are constrained. For example, theshortest protein of an embodiment is sixteen bytes. A standard-formatprotein cannot fit any actual payload data into those sixteen bytes (thelion's share of which is already relegated to describing the location ofthe protein's component parts). But a non-standard format protein couldconceivably use 12 of its 16 bytes for data. Two applications exchangingproteins could mutually decide that any 16-byte-long proteins that theyemit always include 12 bytes representing, for example, 12 8-bit sensorvalues from a real-time analog-to-digital converter.

Immediately following the length header, in the standard structure of aprotein, two more variable-length integer numbers appear. These numbersspecify offsets to, respectively, the first element in the descrips listand the first key-value pair (ingest). These offsets are also referredto herein as the descrips offset and the ingests offset, respectively.The byte order of each quad of these numbers is specified by the proteinendianness flag bit. For each, the most significant bit of the firstfour bytes determines whether the number is four or eight bytes wide. Ifthe most significant bit (msb) is set, the first four bytes are the mostsignificant bytes of a double-word (eight byte) number. This is referredto herein as “offset form”. Use of separate offsets pointing to descripsand pairs allows descrips and pairs to be handled by different codepaths, making possible particular optimizations relating to, forexample, descrips pattern-matching and protein assembly. The presence ofthese two offsets at the beginning of a protein also allows for severaluseful optimizations.

Most proteins will not be so large as to require eight-byte lengths orpointers, so in general the length (with flags) and two offset numberswill occupy only the first three bytes of a protein. On many hardware orsystem architectures, a fetch or read of a certain number of bytesbeyond the first is “free” (e.g., 16 bytes take exactly the same numberof clock cycles to pull across the Cell processor's main bus as a singlebyte).

In many instances it is useful to allow implementation-specific orcontext-specific caching or metadata inside a protein. The use ofoffsets allows for a “hole” of arbitrary size to be created near thebeginning of the protein, into which such metadata may be slotted. Animplementation that can make use of eight bytes of metadata gets thosebytes for free on many system architectures with every fetch of thelength header for a protein.

The descrips offset specifies the number of bytes between the beginningof the protein and the first descrip entry. Each descrip entry comprisesan offset (in offset form, of course) to the next descrip entry,followed by a variable-width length field (again in offset format),followed by a slaw. If there are no further descrips, the offset is, byrule, four bytes of zeros. Otherwise, the offset specifies the number ofbytes between the beginning of this descrip entry and a subsequentdescrip entry. The length field specifies the length of the slaw, inbytes.

In most proteins, each descrip is a string, formatted in the slaw stringfashion: a four-byte length/type header with the most significant bitset and only the lower 30 bits used to specify length, followed by theheader's indicated number of data bytes. As usual, the length headertakes its endianness from the protein. Bytes are assumed to encode UTF-8characters (and thus—nota bene—the number of characters is notnecessarily the same as the number of bytes).

The ingests offset specifies the number of bytes between the beginningof the protein and the first ingest entry. Each ingest entry comprisesan offset (in offset form) to the next ingest entry, followed again by alength field and a slaw. The ingests offset is functionally identical tothe descrips offset, except that it points to the next ingest entryrather than to the next descrip entry.

In most proteins, every ingest is of the slaw cons type comprising atwo-value list, generally used as a key/value pair. The slaw cons recordcomprises a four-byte length/type header with the second mostsignificant bit set and only the lower 30 bits used to specify length; afour-byte offset to the start of the value (second) element; thefour-byte length of the key element; the slaw record for the keyelement; the four-byte length of the value element; and finally the slawrecord for the value element.

Generally, the cons key is a slaw string. The duplication of data acrossthe several protein and slaw cons length and offsets field provides yetmore opportunity for refinement and optimization.

The construct used under an embodiment to embed typed data insideproteins, as described above, is a tagged byte-sequence specificationand abstraction called a “slaw” (the plural is “slawx”). A slaw is alinear sequence of bytes representing a piece of (possibly aggregate)typed data, and is associated with programming-language-specific APIsthat allow slawx to be created, modified and moved around between memoryspaces, storage media, and machines. The slaw type scheme is intended tobe extensible and as lightweight as possible, and to be a commonsubstrate that can be used from any programming language.

The desire to build an efficient, large-scale inter-processcommunication mechanism is the driver of the slaw configuration.Conventional programming languages provide sophisticated data structuresand type facilities that work well in process-specific memory layouts,but these data representations invariably break down when data needs tobe moved between processes or stored on disk. The slaw architecture is,first, a substantially efficient, multi-platform friendly, low-leveldata model for inter-process communication.

But even more importantly, slawx are configured to influence, togetherwith proteins, and enable the development of future computing hardware(microprocessors, memory controllers, disk controllers). A few specificadditions to, say, the instruction sets of commonly availablemicroprocessors make it possible for slawx to become as efficient evenfor single-process, in-memory data layout as the schema used in mostprogramming languages.

Each slaw comprises a variable-length type header followed by atype-specific data layout. In an example embodiment, which supports fullslaw functionality in C, C++ and Ruby for example, types are indicatedby a universal integer defined in system header files accessible fromeach language. More sophisticated and flexible type resolutionfunctionality is also enabled: for example, indirect typing viauniversal object IDs and network lookup.

The slaw configuration of an embodiment allows slaw records to be usedas objects in language-friendly fashion from both Ruby and C++, forexample. A suite of utilities external to the C++ compiler sanity-checkslaw byte layout, create header files and macros specific to individualslaw types, and auto-generate bindings for Ruby. As a result,well-configured slaw types are quite efficient even when used fromwithin a single process. Any slaw anywhere in a process's accessiblememory can be addressed without a copy or “deserialization” step.

Slaw functionality of an embodiment includes API facilities to performone or more of the following: create a new slaw of a specific type;create or build a language-specific reference to a slaw from bytes ondisk or in memory; embed data within a slaw in type-specific fashion;query the size of a slaw; retrieve data from within a slaw; clone aslaw; and translate the endianness and other format attributes of alldata within a slaw. Every species of slaw implements the abovebehaviors.

FIGS. 19B/1 and 19B2 show a slaw header format, under an embodiment. Adetailed description of the slaw follows.

The internal structure of each slaw optimizes each of type resolution,access to encapsulated data, and size information for that slawinstance. In an embodiment, the full set of slaw types is by designminimally complete, and includes: the slaw string; the slaw cons (i.e.dyad); the slaw list; and the slaw numerical object, which itselfrepresents a broad set of individual numerical types understood aspermutations of a half-dozen or so basic attributes. The other basicproperty of any slaw is its size. In an embodiment, slawx havebyte-lengths quantized to multiples of four; these four-byte words arereferred to herein as ‘quads’. In general, such quad-based sizing alignsslawx well with the configurations of modern computer hardwarearchitectures.

The first four bytes of every slaw in an embodiment comprise a headerstructure that encodes type-description and other metainformation, andthat ascribes specific type meanings to particular bit patterns. Forexample, the first (most significant) bit of a slaw header is used tospecify whether the size (length in quad-words) of that slaw follows theinitial four-byte type header. When this bit is set, it is understoodthat the size of the slaw is explicitly recorded in the next four bytesof the slaw (e.g., bytes five through eight); if the size of the slaw issuch that it cannot be represented in four bytes (i.e. if the size is oris larger than two to the thirty-second power) then thenext-most-significant bit of the slaw's initial four bytes is also set,which means that the slaw has an eight-byte (rather than four byte)length. In that case, an inspecting process will find the slaw's lengthstored in ordinal bytes five through twelve. On the other hand, thesmall number of slaw types means that in many cases a fully specifiedtypal bit-pattern “leaves unused” many bits in the four byte slawheader; and in such cases these bits may be employed to encode theslaw's length, saving the bytes (five through eight) that wouldotherwise be required.

For example, an embodiment leaves the most significant bit of the slawheader (the “length follows” flag) unset and sets the next bit toindicate that the slaw is a “wee cons”, and in this case the length ofthe slaw (in quads) is encoded in the remaining thirty bits. Similarly,a “wee string” is marked by the pattern 001 in the header, which leavestwenty-nine bits for representation of the slaw-string's length; and aleading 0001 in the header describes a “wee list”, which by virtue ofthe twenty-eight available length-representing bits can be a slaw listof up to two-to-the-twenty-eight quads in size. A “full string” (or consor list) has a different bit signature in the header, with the mostsignificant header bit necessarily set because the slaw length isencoded separately in bytes five through eight (or twelve, in extremecases). Note that the Plasma implementation “decides” at the instant ofslaw construction whether to employ the “wee” or the “full” version ofthese constructs (the decision is based on whether the resulting sizewill “fit” in the available wee bits or not), but the full-vs.-weedetail is hidden from the user of the Plasma implementation, who knowsand cares only that she is using a slaw string, or a slaw cons, or aslaw list.

Numeric slawx are, in an embodiment, indicated by the leading headerpattern 00001. Subsequent header bits are used to represent a set oforthogonal properties that may be combined in arbitrary permutation. Anembodiment employs, but is not limited to, five such character bits toindicate whether or not the number is: (1) floating point; (2) complex;(3) unsigned; (4) “wide”; (5) “stumpy” ((4) “wide” and (5) “stumpy” arepermuted to indicate eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and sixty-four bitnumber representations). Two additional bits (e.g., (7) and (8))indicate that the encapsulated numeric data is a two-, three-, orfour-element vector (with both bits being zero suggesting that thenumeric is a “one-element vector” (i.e. a scalar)). In this embodimentthe eight bits of the fourth header byte are used to encode the size (inbytes, not quads) of the encapsulated numeric data. This size encodingis offset by one, so that it can represent any size between andincluding one and two hundred fifty-six bytes. Finally, two characterbits (e.g., (9) and (10)) are used to indicate that the numeric dataencodes an array of individual numeric entities, each of which is of thetype described by character bits (1) through (8). In the case of anarray, the individual numeric entities are not each tagged withadditional headers, but are packed as continuous data following thesingle header and, possibly, explicit slaw size information.

This embodiment affords simple and efficient slaw duplication (which canbe implemented as a byte-for-byte copy) and extremely straightforwardand efficient slaw comparison (two slawx are the same in this embodimentif and only if there is a one-to-one match of each of their componentbytes considered in sequence). This latter property is important, forexample, to an efficient implementation of the protein architecture, oneof whose critical and pervasive features is the ability to searchthrough or ‘match on’ a protein's descrips list.

Further, the embodiments herein allow aggregate slaw forms (e.g., theslaw cons and the slaw list) to be constructed simply and efficiently.For example, an embodiment builds a slaw cons from two component slawx,which may be of any type, including themselves aggregates, by: (a)querying each component slaw's size; (b) allocating memory of size equalto the sum of the sizes of the two component slawx and the one, two, orthree quads needed for the header-plus-size structure; (c) recording theslaw header (plus size information) in the first four, eight, or twelvebytes; and then (d) copying the component slawx's bytes in turn into theimmediately succeeding memory. Significantly, such a constructionroutine need know nothing about the types of the two component slawx;only their sizes (and accessibility as a sequence of bytes) matters. Thesame process pertains to the construction of slaw lists, which areordered encapsulations of arbitrarily many sub-slawx of (possibly)heterogeneous type.

A further consequence of the slaw system's fundamental format assequential bytes in memory obtains in connection with “traversal”activities—a recurring use pattern uses, for example, sequential accessto the individual slawx stored in a slaw list. The individual slawx thatrepresent the descrips and ingests within a protein structure mustsimilarly be traversed. Such maneuvers are accomplished in a stunninglystraightforward and efficient manner: to “get to” the next slaw in aslaw list, one adds the length of the current slaw to its location inmemory, and the resulting memory location is identically the header ofthe next slaw. Such simplicity is possible because the slaw and proteindesign eschews “indirection”; there are no pointers; rather, the datasimply exists, in its totality, in situ.

To the point of slaw comparison, a complete implementation of the Plasmasystem must acknowledge the existence of differing and incompatible datarepresentation schemes across and among different operating systems,CPUs, and hardware architectures. Major such differences includebyte-ordering policies (e.g., little- vs. big-endianness) andfloating-point representations; other differences exist. The Plasmaspecification requires that the data encapsulated by slawx be guaranteedinterprable (i.e., must appear in the native format of the architectureor platform from which the slaw is being inspected. This requirementmeans in turn that the Plasma system is itself responsible for dataformat conversion. However, the specification stipulates only that theconversion take place before a slaw becomes “at all visible” to anexecuting process that might inspect it. It is therefore up to theindividual implementation at which point it chooses to perform suchformat c conversion; two appropriate approaches are that slaw datapayloads are conformed to the local architecture's data format (1) as anindividual slaw is “pulled out” of a protein in which it had beenpacked, or (2) for all slaw in a protein simultaneously, as that proteinis extracted from the pool in which it was resident. Note that theconversion stipulation considers the possibility of hardware-assistedimplementations. For example, networking chipsets built with explicitPlasma capability may choose to perform format conversion intelligentlyand at the “instant of transmission”, based on the known characteristicsof the receiving system. Alternately, the process of transmission mayconvert data payloads into a canonical format, with the receivingprocess symmetrically converting from canonical to “local” format.Another embodiment performs format conversion “at the metal”, meaningthat data is always stored in canonical format, even in local memory,and that the memory controller hardware itself performs the conversionas data is retrieved from memory and placed in the registers of theproximal CPU.

A minimal (and read-only) protein implementation of an embodimentincludes operation or behavior in one or more applications orprogramming languages making use of proteins. FIG. 19C is a flow diagram650 for using proteins, under an embodiment. Operation begins byquerying 652 the length in bytes of a protein. The number of descripsentries is queried 654. The number of ingests is queried 656. A descripentry is retrieved 658 by index number. An ingest is retrieved 660 byindex number.

The embodiments described herein also define basic methods allowingproteins to be constructed and filled with data, helper-methods thatmake common tasks easier for programmers, and hooks for creatingoptimizations. FIG. 19D is a flow diagram 670 for constructing orgenerating proteins, under an embodiment. Operation begins with creation672 of a new protein. A series of descrips entries are appended 674. Aningest is also appended 676. The presence of a matching descrip isqueried 678, and the presence of a matching ingest key is queried 680.Given an ingest key, an ingest value is retrieved 682. Pattern matchingis performed 684 across descrips. Non-structured metadata is embedded686 near the beginning of the protein.

As described above, slawx provide the lowest-level of data definitionfor inter-process exchange, proteins provide mid-level structure andhooks for querying and filtering, and pools provide for high-levelorganization and access semantics. The pool is a repository forproteins, providing linear sequencing and state caching. The pool alsoprovides multi-process access by multiple programs or applications ofnumerous different types. Moreover, the pool provides a set of common,optimizable filtering and pattern-matching behaviors.

The pools of an embodiment, which can accommodate tens of thousands ofproteins, function to maintain state, so that individual processes canoffload much of the tedious bookkeeping common to multi-process programcode. A pool maintains or keeps a large buffer of past proteinsavailable—the Platonic pool is explicitly infinite—so that participatingprocesses can scan both backwards and forwards in a pool at will. Thesize of the buffer is implementation dependent, of course, but in commonusage it is often possible to keep proteins in a pool for hours or days.

The most common style of pool usage as described herein hews to abiological metaphor, in contrast to the mechanistic, point-to-pointapproach taken by existing inter-process communication frameworks. Thename protein alludes to biological inspiration: data proteins in poolsare available for flexible querying and pattern matching by a largenumber of computational processes, as chemical proteins in a livingorganism are available for pattern matching and filtering by largenumbers of cellular agents.

Two additional abstractions lean on the biological metaphor, includinguse of “handlers”, and the Golgi framework. A process that participatesin a pool generally creates a number of handlers. Handlers arerelatively small bundles of code that associate match conditions withhandle behaviors. By tying one or more handlers to a pool, a processsets up flexible call-back triggers that encapsulate state and react tonew proteins.

A process that participates in several pools generally inherits from anabstract Golgi class. The Golgi framework provides a number of usefulroutines for managing multiple pools and handlers. The Golgi class alsoencapsulates parent-child relationships, providing a mechanism for localprotein exchange that does not use a pool.

A pools API provided under an embodiment is configured to allow pools tobe implemented in a variety of ways, in order to account both forsystem-specific goals and for the available capabilities of givenhardware and network architectures. The two fundamental systemprovisions upon which pools depend are a storage facility and a means ofinter-process communication. The extant systems described herein use aflexible combination of shared memory, virtual memory, and disk for thestorage facility, and IPC queues and TCP/IP sockets for inter-processcommunication.

Pool functionality of an embodiment includes, but is not limited to, thefollowing: participating in a pool; placing a protein in a pool;retrieving the next unseen protein from a pool; rewinding orfast-forwarding through the contents (e.g., proteins) within a pool.Additionally, pool functionality can include, but is not limited to, thefollowing: setting up a streaming pool call-back for a process;selectively retrieving proteins that match particular patterns ofdescrips or ingests keys; scanning backward and forwards for proteinsthat match particular patterns of descrips or ingests keys.

The proteins described above are provided to pools as a way of sharingthe protein data contents with other applications. FIG. 20 is a blockdiagram of a processing environment including data exchange using slawx,proteins, and pools, under an embodiment. This example environmentincludes three devices (e.g., Device X, Device Y, and Device Z,collectively referred to herein as the “devices”) sharing data throughthe use of slawx, proteins and pools as described above. Each of thedevices is coupled to the three pools (e.g., Pool 1, Pool 2, Pool 3).Pool 1 includes numerous proteins (e.g., Protein X1, Protein Z2, ProteinY2, Protein X4, Protein Y4) contributed or transferred to the pool fromthe respective devices (e.g., protein Z2 is transferred or contributedto pool 1 by device Z, etc.). Pool 2 includes numerous proteins (e.g.,Protein Z4, Protein Y3, Protein Z1, Protein X3) contributed ortransferred to the pool from the respective devices (e.g., protein Y3 istransferred or contributed to pool 2 by device Y, etc.). Pool 3 includesnumerous proteins (e.g., Protein Y1, Protein Z3, Protein X2) contributedor transferred to the pool from the respective devices (e.g., protein X2is transferred or contributed to pool 3 by device X, etc.). While theexample described above includes three devices coupled or connectedamong three pools, any number of devices can be coupled or connected inany manner or combination among any number of pools, and any pool caninclude any number of proteins contributed from any number orcombination of devices. The proteins and pools of this example are asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 18-23.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple devices and numerous programs running on one or more of thedevices in which the Plasma constructs (e.g., pools, proteins, and slaw)are used to allow the numerous running programs to share andcollectively respond to the events generated by the devices, under anembodiment. This system is but one example of a multi-user,multi-device, multi-computer interactive control scenario orconfiguration. More particularly, in this example, an interactivesystem, comprising multiple devices (e.g., device A, B, etc.) and anumber of programs (e.g., apps AA-AX, apps BA-BX, etc.) running on thedevices uses the Plasma constructs (e.g., pools, proteins, and slaw) toallow the running programs to share and collectively respond to theevents generated by these input devices.

In this example, each device (e.g., device A, B, etc.) translatesdiscrete raw data generated by or output from the programs (e.g., appsAA-AX, apps BA-BX, etc.) running on that respective device into Plasmaproteins and deposits those proteins into a Plasma pool. For example,program AX generates data or output and provides the output to device Awhich, in turn, translates the raw data into proteins (e.g., protein 1A,protein 2A, etc.) and deposits those proteins into the pool. As anotherexample, program BC generates data and provides the data to device Bwhich, in turn, translates the data into proteins (e.g., protein 1B,protein 2B, etc.) and deposits those proteins into the pool.

Each protein contains a descrip list that specifies the data or outputregistered by the application as well as identifying information for theprogram itself. Where possible, the protein descrips may also ascribe ageneral semantic meaning for the output event or action. The protein'sdata payload (e.g., ingests) carries the full set of useful stateinformation for the program event.

The proteins, as described above, are available in the pool for use byany program or device coupled or connected to the pool, regardless oftype of the program or device. Consequently, any number of programsrunning on any number of computers may extract event proteins from theinput pool. These devices need only be able to participate in the poolvia either the local memory bus or a network connection in order toextract proteins from the pool. An immediate consequence of this is thebeneficial possibility of decoupling processes that are responsible forgenerating processing events from those that use or interpret theevents. Another consequence is the multiplexing of sources and consumersof events so that devices may be controlled by one person or may be usedsimultaneously by several people (e.g., a Plasma-based input frameworksupports many concurrent users), while the resulting event streams arein turn visible to multiple event consumers.

As an example, device C can extract one or more proteins (e.g., protein1A, protein 2A, etc.) from the pool. Following protein extraction,device C can use the data of the protein, retrieved or read from theslaw of the descrips and ingests of the protein, in processing events towhich the protein data corresponds. As another example, device B canextract one or more proteins (e.g., protein 1C, protein 2A, etc.) fromthe pool. Following protein extraction, device B can use the data of theprotein in processing events to which the protein data corresponds.

Devices and/or programs coupled or connected to a pool may skimbackwards and forwards in the pool looking for particular sequences ofproteins. It is often useful, for example, to set up a program to waitfor the appearance of a protein matching a certain pattern, then skimbackwards to determine whether this protein has appeared in conjunctionwith certain others. This facility for making use of the stored eventhistory in the input pool often makes writing state management codeunnecessary, or at least significantly reduces reliance on suchundesirable coding patterns.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple devices and numerous programs running on one or more of thedevices in which the Plasma constructs (e.g., pools, proteins, and slaw)are used to allow the numerous running programs to share andcollectively respond to the events generated by the devices, under analternative embodiment. This system is but one example of a multi-user,multi-device, multi-computer interactive control scenario orconfiguration. More particularly, in this example, an interactivesystem, comprising multiple devices (e.g., devices X and Y coupled todevices A and B, respectively) and a number of programs (e.g., appsAA-AX, apps BA-BX, etc.) running on one or more computers (e.g., deviceA, device B, etc.) uses the Plasma constructs (e.g., pools, proteins,and slaw) to allow the running programs to share and collectivelyrespond to the events generated by these input devices.

In this example, each device (e.g., devices X and Y coupled to devices Aand B, respectively) is managed and/or coupled to run under or inassociation with one or more programs hosted on the respective device(e.g., device A, device B, etc.) which translates the discrete raw datagenerated by the device (e.g., device X, device A, device Y, device B,etc.) hardware into Plasma proteins and deposits those proteins into aPlasma pool. For example, device X running in association withapplication AB hosted on device A generates raw data, translates thediscrete raw data into proteins (e.g., protein 1A, protein 2A, etc.) anddeposits those proteins into the pool. As another example, device Xrunning in association with application AT hosted on device A generatesraw data, translates the discrete raw data into proteins (e.g., protein1A, protein 2A, etc.) and deposits those proteins into the pool. As yetanother example, device Z running in association with application CDhosted on device C generates raw data, translates the discrete raw datainto proteins (e.g., protein 1C, protein 2C, etc.) and deposits thoseproteins into the pool.

Each protein contains a descrip list that specifies the actionregistered by the input device as well as identifying information forthe device itself. Where possible, the protein descrips may also ascribea general semantic meaning for the device action. The protein's datapayload (e.g., ingests) carries the full set of useful state informationfor the device event.

The proteins, as described above, are available in the pool for use byany program or device coupled or connected to the pool, regardless oftype of the program or device. Consequently, any number of programsrunning on any number of computers may extract event proteins from theinput pool. These devices need only be able to participate in the poolvia either the local memory bus or a network connection in order toextract proteins from the pool. An immediate consequence of this is thebeneficial possibility of decoupling processes that are responsible forgenerating processing events from those that use or interpret theevents. Another consequence is the multiplexing of sources and consumersof events so that input devices may be controlled by one person or maybe used simultaneously by several people (e.g., a Plasma-based inputframework supports many concurrent users), while the resulting eventstreams are in turn visible to multiple event consumers.

Devices and/or programs coupled or connected to a pool may skimbackwards and forwards in the pool looking for particular sequences ofproteins. It is often useful, for example, to set up a program to waitfor the appearance of a protein matching a certain pattern, then skimbackwards to determine whether this protein has appeared in conjunctionwith certain others. This facility for making use of the stored eventhistory in the input pool often makes writing state management codeunnecessary, or at least significantly reduces reliance on suchundesirable coding patterns.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple input devices coupled among numerous programs running on one ormore of the devices in which the Plasma constructs (e.g., pools,proteins, and slaw) are used to allow the numerous running programs toshare and collectively respond to the events generated by the inputdevices, under another alternative embodiment. This system is but oneexample of a multi-user, multi-device, multi-computer interactivecontrol scenario or configuration. More particularly, in this example,an interactive system, comprising multiple input devices (e.g., inputdevices A, B, BA, and BB, etc.) and a number of programs (not shown)running on one or more computers (e.g., device A, device B, etc.) usesthe Plasma constructs (e.g., pools, proteins, and slaw) to allow therunning programs to share and collectively respond to the eventsgenerated by these input devices.

In this example, each input device (e.g., input devices A, B, BA, andBB, etc.) is managed by a software driver program hosted on therespective device (e.g., device A, device B, etc.) which translates thediscrete raw data generated by the input device hardware into Plasmaproteins and deposits those proteins into a Plasma pool. For example,input device A generates raw data and provides the raw data to device Awhich, in turn, translates the discrete raw data into proteins (e.g.,protein 1A, protein 2A, etc.) and deposits those proteins into the pool.As another example, input device BB generates raw data and provides theraw data to device B which, in turn, translates the discrete raw datainto proteins (e.g., protein 1B, protein 3B, etc.) and deposits thoseproteins into the pool.

Each protein contains a descrip list that specifies the actionregistered by the input device as well as identifying information forthe device itself. Where possible, the protein descrips may also ascribea general semantic meaning for the device action. The protein's datapayload (e.g., ingests) carries the full set of useful state informationfor the device event.

To illustrate, here are example proteins for two typical events in sucha system. Proteins are represented here as text however, in an actualimplementation, the constituent parts of these proteins are typed databundles (e.g., slaw). The protein describing a g-speak “one fingerclick” pose (described in the Related Applications) is as follows:

[ Descrips: { point, engage, one, one-finger-engage, hand,     pilot-id-02, hand-id-23 }  Ingests: { pilot-id => 02,    hand-id => 23,     pos  => [ 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 ]     angle-axis => [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.707 ]     gripe  => ..{circumflex over ( )}||:vx    time  => 184437103.29}]As a further example, the protein describing a mouse click is asfollows:

[ Descrips: { point, click, one, mouse-click, button-one,     mouse-id-02 }  Ingests: { mouse-id => 23,     pos  => [ 0.0, 0.0,0.0 ]     time  => 184437124.80}]

Either or both of the sample proteins foregoing might cause aparticipating program of a host device to run a particular portion ofits code. These programs may be interested in the general semanticlabels: the most general of all, “point”, or the more specific pair,“engage, one”. Or they may be looking for events that would plausibly begenerated only by a precise device: “one-finger-engage”, or even asingle aggregate object, “hand-id-23”.

The proteins, as described above, are available in the pool for use byany program or device coupled or connected to the pool, regardless oftype of the program or device. Consequently, any number of programsrunning on any number of computers may extract event proteins from theinput pool. These devices need only be able to participate in the poolvia either the local memory bus or a network connection in order toextract proteins from the pool. An immediate consequence of this is thebeneficial possibility of decoupling processes that are responsible forgenerating ‘input events’ from those that use or interpret the events.Another consequence is the multiplexing of sources and consumers ofevents so that input devices may be controlled by one person or may beused simultaneously by several people (e.g., a Plasma-based inputframework supports many concurrent users), while the resulting eventstreams are in turn visible to multiple event consumers.

As an example or protein use, device C can extract one or more proteins(e.g., protein 1B, etc.) from the pool. Following protein extraction,device C can use the data of the protein, retrieved or read from theslaw of the descrips and ingests of the protein, in processing inputevents of input devices CA and CC to which the protein data corresponds.As another example, device A can extract one or more proteins (e.g.,protein 1B, etc.) from the pool. Following protein extraction, device Acan use the data of the protein in processing input events of inputdevice A to which the protein data corresponds.

Devices and/or programs coupled or connected to a pool may skimbackwards and forwards in the pool looking for particular sequences ofproteins. It is often useful, for example, to set up a program to waitfor the appearance of a protein matching a certain pattern, then skimbackwards to determine whether this protein has appeared in conjunctionwith certain others. This facility for making use of the stored eventhistory in the input pool often makes writing state management codeunnecessary, or at least significantly reduces reliance on suchundesirable coding patterns.

Examples of input devices that are used in the embodiments of the systemdescribed herein include gestural input sensors, keyboards, mice,infrared remote controls such as those used in consumer electronics, andtask-oriented tangible media objects, to name a few.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple devices coupled among numerous programs running on one or moreof the devices in which the Plasma constructs (e.g., pools, proteins,and slaw) are used to allow the numerous running programs to share andcollectively respond to the graphics events generated by the devices,under yet another alternative embodiment. This system is but one exampleof a system comprising multiple running programs (e.g. graphics A-E) andone or more display devices (not shown), in which the graphical outputof some or all of the programs is made available to other programs in acoordinated manner using the Plasma constructs (e.g., pools, proteins,and slaw) to allow the running programs to share and collectivelyrespond to the graphics events generated by the devices.

It is often useful for a computer program to display graphics generatedby another program. Several common examples include video conferencingapplications, network-based slideshow and demo programs, and windowmanagers. Under this configuration, the pool is used as a Plasma libraryto implement a generalized, framework which encapsulates video, networkapplication sharing, and window management, and allows programmers toadd in a number of features not commonly available in current versionsof such programs.

Programs (e.g., graphics A-E) running in the Plasma compositingenvironment participate in a coordination pool through couplings and/orconnections to the pool. Each program may deposit proteins in that poolto indicate the availability of graphical sources of various kinds.Programs that are available to display graphics also deposit proteins toindicate their displays' capabilities, security and user profiles, andphysical and network locations.

Graphics data also may be transmitted through pools, or display programsmay be pointed to network resources of other kinds (RTSP streams, forexample). The phrase “graphics data” as used herein refers to a varietyof different representations that lie along a broad continuum; examplesof graphics data include but are not limited to literal examples (e.g.,an ‘image’, or block of pixels), procedural examples (e.g., a sequenceof ‘drawing’ directives, such as those that flow down a typical openGLpipeline), and descriptive examples (e.g., instructions that combineother graphical constructs by way of geometric transformation, clipping,and compositing operations).

On a local machine graphics data may be delivered throughplatform-specific display driver optimizations. Even when graphics arenot transmitted via pools, often a periodic screen-capture will bestored in the coordination pool so that clients without direct access tothe more esoteric sources may still display fall-back graphics.

One advantage of the system described here is that unlike most messagepassing frameworks and network protocols, pools maintain a significantbuffer of data. So programs can rewind backwards into a pool looking ataccess and usage patterns (in the case of the coordination pool) orextracting previous graphics frames (in the case of graphics pools).

FIG. 25 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple devices coupled among numerous programs running on one or moreof the devices in which the Plasma constructs (e.g., pools, proteins,and slaw) are used to allow stateful inspection, visualization, anddebugging of the running programs, under still another alternativeembodiment. This system is but one example of a system comprisingmultiple running programs (e.g. program P-A, program P-B, etc.) onmultiple devices (e.g., device A, device B, etc.) in which some programsaccess the internal state of other programs using or via pools.

Most interactive computer systems comprise many programs runningalongside one another, either on a single machine or on multiplemachines and interacting across a network. Multi-program systems can bedifficult to configure, analyze and debug because run-time data ishidden inside each process and difficult to access. The generalizedframework and Plasma constructs of an embodiment described herein allowrunning programs to make much of their data available via pools so thatother programs may inspect their state. This framework enables debuggingtools that are more flexible than conventional debuggers, sophisticatedsystem maintenance tools, and visualization harnesses configured toallow human operators to analyze in detail the sequence of states that aprogram or programs has passed through.

Referring to FIG. 25, a program (e.g., program P-A, program P-B, etc.)running in this framework generates or creates a process pool uponprogram start up. This pool is registered in the system almanac, andsecurity and access controls are applied. More particularly, each device(e.g., device A, B, etc.) translates discrete raw data generated by oroutput from the programs (e.g., program P-A, program P-B, etc.) runningon that respective device into Plasma proteins and deposits thoseproteins into a Plasma pool. For example, program P-A generates data oroutput and provides the output to device A which, in turn, translatesthe raw data into proteins (e.g., protein 1A, protein 2A, protein 3A,etc.) and deposits those proteins into the pool. As another example,program P-B generates data and provides the data to device B which, inturn, translates the data into proteins (e.g., proteins 1B-4B, etc.) anddeposits those proteins into the pool.

For the duration of the program's lifetime, other programs withsufficient access permissions may attach to the pool and read theproteins that the program deposits; this represents the basic inspectionmodality, and is a conceptually “one-way” or “read-only” proposition:entities interested in a program P-A inspect the flow of statusinformation deposited by P-A in its process pool. For example, aninspection program or application running under device C can extract oneor more proteins (e.g., protein 1A, protein 2A, etc.) from the pool.Following protein extraction, device C can use the data of the protein,retrieved or read from the slaw of the descrips and ingests of theprotein, to access, interpret and inspect the internal state of programP-A.

But, recalling that the Plasma system is not only an efficient statefultransmission scheme but also an omnidirectional messaging environment,several additional modes support program-to-program state inspection. Anauthorized inspection program may itself deposit proteins into programP's process pool to influence or control the characteristics of stateinformation produced and placed in that process pool (which, after all,program P not only writes into but reads from).

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of a processing environment includingmultiple devices coupled among numerous programs running on one or moreof the devices in which the Plasma constructs (e.g., pools, proteins,and slaw) are used to allow influence or control the characteristics ofstate information produced and placed in that process pool, under anadditional alternative embodiment. In this system example, theinspection program of device C can for example request that programs(e.g., program P-A, program P-B, etc.) dump more state than normal intothe pool, either for a single instant or for a particular duration. Or,prefiguring the next ‘level’ of debug communication, an interestedprogram can request that programs (e.g., program P-A, program P-B, etc.)emit a protein listing the objects extant in its runtime environmentthat are individually capable of and available for interaction via thedebug pool. Thus informed, the interested program can ‘address’individuals among the objects in the programs runtime, placing proteinsin the process pool that a particular object alone will take up andrespond to. The interested program might, for example, request that anobject emit a report protein describing the instantaneous values of allits component variables. Even more significantly, the interested programcan, via other proteins, direct an object to change its behavior or itsvariables' values.

More specifically, in this example, inspection application of device Cplaces into the pool a request (in the form of a protein) for an objectlist (e.g., “Request-Object List”) that is then extracted by each device(e.g., device A, device B, etc.) coupled to the pool. In response to therequest, each device (e.g., device A, device B, etc.) places into thepool a protein (e.g., protein 1A, protein 1B, etc.) listing the objectsextant in its runtime environment that are individually capable of andavailable for interaction via the debug pool.

Thus informed via the listing from the devices, and in response to thelisting of the objects, the inspection application of device C addressesindividuals among the objects in the programs runtime, placing proteinsin the process pool that a particular object alone will take up andrespond to. The inspection application of device C can, for example,place a request protein (e.g., protein “Request Report P-A-O”, “RequestReport P-B-O”) in the pool that an object (e.g., object P-A-O, objectP-B-O, respectively) emit a report protein (e.g., protein 2A, protein2B, etc.) describing the instantaneous values of all its componentvariables. Each object (e.g., object P-A-O, object P-B-O) extracts itsrequest (e.g., protein “Request Report P-A-O”, “Request Report P-B-O”,respectively) and, in response, places a protein into the pool thatincludes the requested report (e.g., protein 2A, protein 2B,respectively). Device C then extracts the various report proteins (e.g.,protein 2A, protein 2B, etc.) and takes subsequent processing action asappropriate to the contents of the reports.

In this way, use of Plasma as an interchange medium tends ultimately toerode the distinction between debugging, process control, andprogram-to-program communication and coordination.

To that last, the generalized Plasma framework allows visualization andanalysis programs to be designed in a loosely-coupled fashion. Avisualization tool that displays memory access patterns, for example,might be used in conjunction with any program that outputs its basicmemory reads and writes to a pool. The programs undergoing analysis neednot know of the existence or design of the visualization tool, and viceversa.

The use of pools in the manners described above does not unduly affectsystem performance. For example, embodiments have allowed for depositingof several hundred thousand proteins per second in a pool, so thatenabling even relatively verbose data output does not noticeably inhibitthe responsiveness or interactive character of most programs.

Embodiments described herein include a system comprising an inputdevice. The system of an embodiment comprises a detector coupled to aprocessor and detecting an orientation of the input device. The inputdevice of an embodiment has a plurality of modal orientationscorresponding to the orientation. The plurality of modal orientations ofan embodiment corresponds to a plurality of input modes of a gesturalcontrol system. The detector of an embodiment is coupled to the gesturalcontrol system and automatically controls selection of an input mode ofthe plurality of input modes in response to the orientation.

Embodiments described herein include a system comprising: an inputdevice; and a detector coupled to a processor and detecting anorientation of the input device, wherein the input device has aplurality of modal orientations corresponding to the orientation,wherein the plurality of modal orientations correspond to a plurality ofinput modes of a gestural control system, wherein the detector iscoupled to the gestural control system and automatically controlsselection of an input mode of the plurality of input modes in responseto the orientation.

The detector of an embodiment interprets and translates the orientationof the input device into input signals of the gestural control system.

The detector of an embodiment interprets and translates orientationtransitions of the input device between the plurality of modalorientations into input signals of the gestural control system.

The detecting of the orientation of an embodiment comprises detecting anabsolute three-space location of an instantaneous state of the inputdevice at a point in time and space.

The detector of an embodiment tracks orientation transitions of theinput device between the plurality of modal orientations.

The orientation transitions of an embodiment are rotational transitionsabout an axis of the input device.

The orientation transitions of an embodiment are rotational transitionsabout a plurality of axes of the input device.

The system of an embodiment comprises applying hysteresis to theselection of the input mode during the orientation transitions.

The detector of an embodiment tracks instantaneous orientation inreal-time.

The detector of an embodiment translates raw tracking data of the inputdevice into six degrees of spatial orientation.

The detector of an embodiment tracks instantaneous position of the inputdevice in real-time.

The detector of an embodiment translates raw tracking data of the inputdevice into six degrees of spatial position.

The system of an embodiment comprises at least one input sensor, whereinthe input sensor is positioned on the input device.

The detector of an embodiment translates raw input sensor position datainto input sensor state.

The detector of an embodiment translates raw input sensor position datainto input sensor transition data.

Position of the input sensor of an embodiment controls the plurality ofinput modes.

The input device of an embodiment comprises the detector.

The detector of an embodiment is a remote detector that is remote to theinput device.

The detector of an embodiment comprises an input device detectorcomponent carried by the input device and a remote detector componentthat is remote to the input device.

The input device of an embodiment is a hand-held input device.

The detector of an embodiment detects an absolute three-space locationof an instantaneous state of the input device at a point in time andspace.

The plurality of input modes of an embodiment comprise a directmanipulation mode in which the instantaneous state is used for directmanipulation of an application element of a component coupled to thegestural control system.

The plurality of input modes of an embodiment comprise ameta-manipulation mode in which the instantaneous state is used fordirect manipulation of a set of application elements of a componentcoupled to the gestural control system.

The plurality of input modes of an embodiment comprise athree-dimensional manipulation mode in which the instantaneous state isused for three-dimensional manipulation of an application element of acomponent coupled to the gestural control system.

The gestural control system of an embodiment controls a three-spaceobject coupled to the gestural control system.

The system of an embodiment comprises controlling the three-space objectthrough three translational degrees of freedom and three rotationaldegrees of freedom.

The controlling of an embodiment comprises a direct coupling betweenmotion of the input device and the three-space object.

The controlling of an embodiment includes an indirect coupling betweenmotion of the input device and the three-space object.

The three-space object of an embodiment is presented on a display devicecoupled to the processor.

The system of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping the plurality of input modes of the inputdevice to a plurality of object translations of the three-space object.

The mapping of an embodiment includes a direct mapping between theplurality of input modes and the plurality of object translations.

The mapping of an embodiment includes an indirect mapping between theplurality of input modes and the plurality of object translations.

The mapping of an embodiment includes correlating positional offsets ofthe plurality of input modes to positional offsets of the objecttranslations of the three-space object.

The mapping of an embodiment includes correlating positional offsets ofthe input device to translational velocity of the object translations ofthe three-space object.

The system of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a linear gesture of the input device to alinear translation of the three-space object.

The system of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a rotational gesture of the input deviceto a rotational translation of the three-space object.

The system of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a linear gesture of the input device to arotational translation of the three-space object.

The system of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a rotational gesture of the input deviceto a linear translation of the three-space object.

The detecting of an embodiment comprises detecting when an extrapolatedposition of the input device intersects virtual space, wherein thevirtual space comprises space depicted on a display device coupled tothe gestural control system.

The detector of an embodiment detects an event of the input device,wherein the event corresponds to at least one of a three-space locationand a three-space orientation of the input device, wherein the eventcorresponds to an application of a first type.

The processor of an embodiment generates data sequences comprising inputdevice event data specifying the event and state information of theevent, wherein the input device event data and state information aretype-specific data having a type corresponding to a first application ofthe gestural control system.

The processor of an embodiment forms a data capsule to include the datasequences, wherein the data capsule has a data structure comprising anapplication-independent representation of the data sequences.

The processor of an embodiment places the data capsule in a repository.

A second event of an embodiment running under an application of a secondtype searches the repository and identifies a correspondence between thedata capsule and the second event. The application of the second type ofan embodiment executes an operation corresponding to the second eventusing contents of the data sequences of the data capsule.

The tracking of an embodiment is electromagnetic field (EMF) tracking.

The input device of an embodiment includes the detector coupled tocircuitry, wherein the detector comprises a plurality of coils.

The system of an embodiment comprises a field generator remote to theinput device, wherein the field generator generates an EMF that inducessignals in the plurality of coils.

The system of an embodiment comprises a plurality of field generatorsremote to the input device, wherein each field generator induces signalsin the plurality of coils of the input device when the input device isproximate to the field generator that induces the signals.

The detector of an embodiment detects the orientation of the inputdevice using the EMF signals induced in the plurality of coils.

The detector of an embodiment detects a position of the input deviceusing the signals induced in the plurality of coils.

The input device of an embodiment comprises a transmitter coupled to theprocessor, wherein the transmitter is a wireless transmitter.

The transmitter of an embodiment communicates the orientation of theinput device to the gestural control system.

The transmitter of an embodiment communicates a position of the inputdevice to the gestural control system.

The input device of an embodiment comprises at least one input sensor,wherein the transmitter communicates state of the at least one inputsensor to the gestural control system.

The tracking of an embodiment is optical tracking.

The system of an embodiment comprises at least one tag connected to theinput device.

The at least one tag of an embodiment comprises a plurality of tagsconnected to a front region of the input device.

The tracking of an embodiment includes dynamically detecting a positionof the at least one tag.

The tracking of an embodiment includes detecting position of a set oftags coupled to a region of the input device.

Each tag of the set of tags of an embodiment includes a pattern, whereineach pattern of each tag of the set of tags is different than anypattern of any remaining tag of the plurality of tags.

Each tag of an embodiment includes a first pattern and a second pattern,wherein the first pattern is common to any tag of the set of tags andthe second pattern is different between at least two tags of the set oftags.

The set of tags of an embodiment form a plurality of patterns on theinput device.

The at least one tag of an embodiment comprises a set of infrared (IR)light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a set of retro-reflective dots.

The input device of an embodiment includes a microprocessor coupled tocircuitry, wherein the circuitry is coupled to the set of IR LEDs.

The system of an embodiment comprises at least one input sensor coupledto the circuitry, wherein the at least one input sensor is positioned onthe input device.

The at least one input sensor of an embodiment controls a state of theset of IR LEDs.

The state of each IR LED of an embodiment corresponds to at least oneinput mode of the plurality of input modes.

The at least one tag of an embodiment comprises at least one trackingdot connected to the input device.

The at least one tracking dot of an embodiment comprises at least oneinfrared (IR) light-emitting diode (LED).

The at least one tracking dot of an embodiment comprises at least oneretro-reflective dot.

The at least one tracking dot of an embodiment comprises at least one ofan infrared (IR) light-emitting diode (LED) and a retro-reflective dot.

The at least one tracking dot of an embodiment comprises a set of IRLEDs and a set of retro-reflective dots.

The input device of an embodiment comprises a plurality of sides,wherein each side of the plurality of sides corresponds to a modalorientation of the plurality of modal orientations.

Each side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment corresponds to aninput mode of the plurality of input modes.

Each side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment is assigned aninput mode to which the side corresponds.

Each side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment is dynamicallyassigned an input mode based on a context.

At least one side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment comprisesan input sensor.

Each side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment comprises an inputsensor.

Each input sensor of each side of an embodiment is dynamically assigneda function based on the orientation.

Each input sensor of each side of an embodiment is dynamically assigneda function based on a context.

The plurality of sides of an embodiment includes three sides, whereinthe input device has a triangular cross-section, wherein each side ofthe plurality of sides corresponds to a modal orientation of theplurality of modal orientations.

Each side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment corresponds to aninput mode of the plurality of input modes.

A first side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment corresponds to afirst input mode and a second side of the plurality of sides of anembodiment corresponds to a second input mode. An orientation transitionof an embodiment comprises rotating the input device around alongitudinal axis more than 120 degrees relative to a center of thefirst side causes a change from the first input mode to the second inputmode.

The detector of an embodiment applies a hysteresis band to the selectionof the input mode during the orientation transition.

The hysteresis band of an embodiment is at least one of equal to andgreater than approximately 30 degrees.

The hysteresis band of an embodiment is programmable.

Each side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment comprises an inputsensor.

Embodiments described herein include a system comprising an input deviceincluding a processor coupled to circuitry. The processor of anembodiment controls a plurality of input modes of a gestural controlsystem. The system of an embodiment comprises a detector coupled to theprocessor and detecting at least one of an absolute three-space positionand orientation of an instantaneous state of the input device at a pointin time and space. The input device of an embodiment has a plurality ofmodal orientations corresponding to at least the orientation. Theplurality of modal orientations of an embodiment corresponds to aplurality of input modes of a gestural control system. The detector ofan embodiment is coupled to the gestural control system andautomatically controls selection of an input mode of the plurality ofinput modes in response to the orientation.

Embodiments described herein include a system comprising: an inputdevice comprising a processor coupled to circuitry, wherein theprocessor controls a plurality of input modes of a gestural controlsystem; and a detector coupled to the processor and detecting at leastone of an absolute three-space position and orientation of aninstantaneous state of the input device at a point in time and space,wherein the input device has a plurality of modal orientationscorresponding to at least the orientation, wherein the plurality ofmodal orientations correspond to a plurality of input modes of agestural control system, wherein the detector is coupled to the gesturalcontrol system and automatically controls selection of an input mode ofthe plurality of input modes in response to the orientation.

Embodiments described herein include an input device comprising ahand-held housing that includes a processor. The processor of anembodiment is coupled to a detector that detects and translates intoinput signals an orientation in which the input device is currentlyoperated and transitions between a plurality of orientations of theinput device. The input signals of an embodiment automatically control aplurality of input modes of a gestural control system.

Embodiments described herein include an input device comprising ahand-held housing that includes a processor, wherein the processor iscoupled to a detector that detects and translates into input signals anorientation in which the input device is currently operated andtransitions between a plurality of orientations of the input device,wherein the input signals automatically control a plurality of inputmodes of a gestural control system.

The detector of an embodiment comprises circuitry including a pluralityof coils.

The device of an embodiment comprises a remote electromagnetic field(EMF) generator that generates an EMF that induces signals in theplurality of coils.

The device of an embodiment comprises a plurality of remote EMFgenerators, wherein each EMF generator induces signals in the pluralityof coils when the housing is proximate to the EMF generator that inducesthe signals.

The detector of an embodiment detects the orientation using the EMFsignals induced in the plurality of coils.

The detector of an embodiment detects a position of the input deviceusing the signals induced in the plurality of coils.

The device of an embodiment comprises a transmitter coupled to theprocessor, wherein the transmitter is a wireless transmitter.

The transmitter of an embodiment communicates the orientation to thegestural control system.

The transmitter of an embodiment communicates a position of the inputdevice to the gestural control system.

The device of an embodiment comprises at least one input sensor coupledto the processor, wherein the transmitter communicates state of the atleast one input sensor to the gestural control system.

The detector of an embodiment translates raw input sensor position datainto input sensor state.

Position of the input sensor of an embodiment controls the gesturalcontrol system.

The plurality of orientations of an embodiment corresponds to theplurality of input modes of a gestural control system.

The plurality of input modes of an embodiment comprise a directmanipulation mode in which the input device directly manipulates of anapplication element of a component coupled to the gestural controlsystem.

The plurality of input modes of an embodiment comprises ameta-manipulation mode in which the input device directly manipulates aset of application elements of a component coupled to the gesturalcontrol system.

The plurality of input modes of an embodiment comprises athree-dimensional manipulation mode in which the input device controlsthree-dimensional manipulation of an application element of a componentcoupled to the gestural control system.

The input signals of an embodiment automatically control selection of aninput mode of the plurality of input modes in response to theorientation.

The device of an embodiment comprises applying hysteresis to selectionof the input mode during the transitions.

The transitions of an embodiment are rotational transitions about atleast one axis of the input device.

The detector of an embodiment tracks in real-time instantaneousthree-space orientation at a point in time and space.

The detector of an embodiment translates raw tracking data of the inputdevice into six degrees of spatial orientation.

The detector of an embodiment tracks in real-time instantaneousthree-space position at a point in time and space.

The detector of an embodiment translates raw tracking data of the inputdevice into six degrees of spatial position.

The housing of an embodiment comprises a plurality of sides, whereineach side of the plurality of sides corresponds to an orientation of theplurality of orientations.

Each side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment corresponds to aninput mode of the plurality of input modes.

Each side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment is assigned aninput mode to which the side corresponds.

Each side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment is dynamicallyassigned an input mode based on a context.

At least one side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment comprisesan input sensor.

Each side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment comprises an inputsensor.

Each input sensor of each side of an embodiment is dynamically assigneda function based on the orientation.

Each input sensor of each side of an embodiment is dynamically assigneda function based on a context.

The plurality of sides of an embodiment includes three sides, whereinthe housing has a triangular cross-section, wherein each side of theplurality of sides corresponds to an orientation of the plurality oforientations.

A first side of the plurality of sides of an embodiment corresponds to afirst input mode and a second side of the plurality of sides correspondsto a second input mode, wherein a transition comprising rotating theinput device around a longitudinal axis more than 120 degrees relativeto a center of the first side causes a change from the first input modeto the second input mode.

The detector of an embodiment applies a hysteresis band to the selectionof the input mode during the transition.

The hysteresis band of an embodiment is at least one of equal to andgreater than approximately 30 degrees.

The hysteresis band of an embodiment is programmable.

The detector of an embodiment detects an event of the input device,wherein the event corresponds to at least one of a three-space locationand a three-space orientation of the input device, wherein the eventcorresponds to an application of a first type.

The processor of an embodiment generates data sequences comprising inputdevice event data specifying the event and state information of theevent, wherein the input device event data and state information aretype-specific data having a type corresponding to a first application ofthe gestural control system.

The processor of an embodiment forms a data capsule to include the datasequences, wherein the data capsule has a data structure comprising anapplication-independent representation of the data sequences.

The processor of an embodiment places the data capsule in a repository.

A second event running under an application of a second type of anembodiment searches the repository and identifies a correspondencebetween the data capsule and the second event, wherein the applicationof the second type executes an operation corresponding to the secondevent using contents of the data sequences of the data capsule.

The gestural control system of an embodiment controls a three-spaceobject coupled to the gestural control system.

The device of an embodiment comprises controlling via the device thethree-space object through three translational degrees of freedom andthree rotational degrees of freedom.

The controlling of an embodiment comprises a direct coupling betweenmotion of the input device and the three-space object.

The controlling of an embodiment includes an indirect coupling betweenmotion of the input device and the three-space object.

The three-space object of an embodiment is presented on a display devicecoupled to the processor.

The device of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping the plurality of input modes of the inputdevice to a plurality of object translations of the three-space object.

The mapping of an embodiment includes a direct mapping between theplurality of input modes and the plurality of object translations.

The mapping of an embodiment includes an indirect mapping between theplurality of input modes and the plurality of object translations.

The mapping of an embodiment includes correlating positional offsets ofthe plurality of input modes to positional offsets of the objecttranslations of the three-space object.

The mapping of an embodiment includes correlating positional offsets ofthe input device to translational velocity of the object translations ofthe three-space object.

The device of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a linear gesture of the input device to alinear translation of the three-space object.

The device of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a rotational gesture of the input deviceto a rotational translation of the three-space object.

The device of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a linear gesture of the input device to arotational translation of the three-space object.

The device of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a rotational gesture of the input deviceto a linear translation of the three-space object.

The detecting of an embodiment comprises detecting when an extrapolatedposition of the input device intersects virtual space, wherein thevirtual space comprises space depicted on a display device coupled tothe gestural control system.

Embodiments described herein include an input device comprising aprocessor coupled to a detector and contained in a housing having ahand-held form factor. The detector of an embodiment detects andtranslates into input signals at least one of an orientation in whichthe housing is currently operated and a position of the housing. Thedetector of an embodiment detects the at least one of the orientationand the position using signals induced in coils. The input device of anembodiment comprises a transmitter coupled to the processor. Thetransmitter of an embodiment communicates the input signals to agestural control system. The input signals of an embodimentautomatically control a plurality of input modes of the gestural controlsystem and control translation and rotation of a three-space objectcoupled to the gestural control system.

Embodiments described herein include an input device comprising: aprocessor coupled to a detector and contained in a housing having ahand-held form factor, wherein the detector detects and translates intoinput signals at least one of an orientation in which the housing iscurrently operated and a position of the housing, wherein the detectordetects the at least one of the orientation and the position usingsignals induced in coils; and a transmitter coupled to the processor,wherein the transmitter communicates the input signals to a gesturalcontrol system, wherein the input signals automatically control aplurality of input modes of the gestural control system and controltranslation and rotation of a three-space object coupled to the gesturalcontrol system.

Embodiments described herein include an input device comprising ahand-held housing that includes a processor. The processor of anembodiment is coupled to a detector that detects and translates intoinput signals an orientation in which the input device is currentlyoperated and transitions between a plurality of orientations of theinput device. The input signals of an embodiment automatically control aplurality of input modes of a gestural control system and control athree-space object coupled to the gestural control system. The inputsignals of an embodiment control the three-space object through threetranslational degrees of freedom and three rotational degrees offreedom.

Embodiments described herein include an input device comprising ahand-held housing that includes a processor, wherein the processor iscoupled to a detector that detects and translates into input signals anorientation in which the input device is currently operated andtransitions between a plurality of orientations of the input device,wherein the input signals automatically control a plurality of inputmodes of a gestural control system and control a three-space objectcoupled to the gestural control system, wherein the input signalscontrol the three-space object through three translational degrees offreedom and three rotational degrees of freedom.

Embodiments described herein include a method comprising detecting andtranslating an orientation in which an input device is currentlyoperated and transitions between a plurality of orientations of theinput device. The input device of an embodiment comprises a hand-heldhousing that includes a processor. The method of an embodiment comprisesautomatically controlling selection of an input mode of the plurality ofinput modes in response to the orientation and the transitions. Themethod of an embodiment comprises controlling a three-space objectcoupled to the gestural control system according to the input mode.

Embodiments described herein include a method comprising: detecting andtranslating an orientation in which an input device is currentlyoperated and transitions between a plurality of orientations of theinput device, wherein the input device comprises a hand-held housingthat includes a processor; automatically controlling selection of aninput mode of the plurality of input modes in response to theorientation and the transitions; and controlling a three-space objectcoupled to the gestural control system according to the input mode.

The detecting of the orientation of an embodiment comprises detecting anabsolute three-space location of an instantaneous state of the inputdevice at a point in time and space.

The transitions of an embodiment are rotational transitions about anaxis of the input device.

The transitions of an embodiment are rotational transitions about aplurality of axes of the input device.

The method of an embodiment comprises applying hysteresis to theselection of the input mode during the transitions.

The detecting of an embodiment comprises detecting instantaneousorientation in real-time.

The translating of an embodiment comprises translating raw tracking dataof the input device into six degrees of spatial orientation.

The detecting of an embodiment comprises detecting instantaneousposition of the input device in real-time.

The translating of an embodiment comprises translating raw tracking dataof the input device into six degrees of spatial position.

The method of an embodiment comprises at least one input sensor, whereinthe input sensor is positioned on the input device.

The method of an embodiment comprises detecting and translating intoinput sensor state raw input sensor position data of an input sensor ofthe input device.

The method of an embodiment comprises controlling the plurality of inputmodes in response to the input sensor state.

The detecting of an embodiment is performed onboard the input device.

The detecting of an embodiment is performed remote to the input device.

The detecting of an embodiment is performed onboard the input device andperformed remote to the input device.

The input device of an embodiment is a hand-held input device.

The detecting of an embodiment comprises detecting an absolutethree-space location of an instantaneous state of the input device at apoint in time and space.

The plurality of input modes of an embodiment comprise a directmanipulation mode in which the instantaneous state is used for directmanipulation of an application element of a component coupled to thegestural control system.

The plurality of input modes of an embodiment comprise ameta-manipulation mode in which the instantaneous state is used fordirect manipulation of a set of application elements of a componentcoupled to the gestural control system.

The plurality of input modes of an embodiment comprise athree-dimensional manipulation mode in which the instantaneous state isused for three-dimensional manipulation of an application element of acomponent coupled to the gestural control system.

The method of an embodiment comprises controlling via the gesturalcontrol system a three-space object coupled to the gestural controlsystem.

The method of an embodiment comprises controlling the three-space objectthrough three translational degrees of freedom and three rotationaldegrees of freedom.

The controlling of an embodiment comprises a direct coupling betweenmotion of the input device and the three-space object.

The controlling of an embodiment includes an indirect coupling betweenmotion of the input device and the three-space object.

The method of an embodiment comprises presenting the three-space objecton a display device.

The method of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping the plurality of input modes of the inputdevice to a plurality of object translations of the three-space object.

The mapping of an embodiment includes a direct mapping between theplurality of input modes and the plurality of object translations.

The mapping of an embodiment includes an indirect mapping between theplurality of input modes and the plurality of object translations.

The mapping of an embodiment includes correlating positional offsets ofthe plurality of input modes to positional offsets of the objecttranslations of the three-space object.

The mapping of an embodiment includes correlating positional offsets ofthe input device to translational velocity of the object translations ofthe three-space object.

The method of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a linear gesture of the input device to alinear translation of the three-space object.

The method of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a rotational gesture of the input deviceto a rotational translation of the three-space object.

The method of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a linear gesture of the input device to arotational translation of the three-space object.

The method of an embodiment comprises controlling movement of thethree-space object by mapping a rotational gesture of the input deviceto a linear translation of the three-space object.

The detecting of an embodiment comprises detecting when an extrapolatedposition of the input device intersects virtual space, wherein thevirtual space comprises space depicted on a display device coupled tothe gestural control system.

The detecting of an embodiment comprises an event of the input device,wherein the event corresponds to at least one of a three-space locationand a three-space orientation of the input device, wherein the eventcorresponds to an application of a first type.

The method of an embodiment comprises generating data sequencescomprising input device event data specifying the event and stateinformation of the event, wherein the input device event data and stateinformation are type-specific data having a type corresponding to afirst application of the gestural control system.

The method of an embodiment comprises forming a data capsule to includethe data sequences, wherein the data capsule has a data structurecomprising an application-independent representation of the datasequences.

The method of an embodiment comprises placing the data capsule in arepository.

A second event running under an application of a second type of anembodiment searches the repository and identifies a correspondencebetween the data capsule and the second event, wherein the applicationof the second type executes an operation corresponding to the secondevent using contents of the data sequences of the data capsule.

The detecting of an embodiment uses electromagnetic field (EMF)tracking.

The method of an embodiment comprises generating an EMF that inducessignals in a plurality of coils of the input device.

The method of an embodiment comprises generating an EMF using aplurality of field generators remote to the input device, wherein eachfield generator induces signals in the plurality of coils of the inputdevice when the input device is proximate to the field generator thatinduces the signals.

The detecting of an embodiment comprises detecting the orientation ofthe input device using the EMF signals induced in the plurality ofcoils.

The detecting of an embodiment comprises detecting a position of theinput device using the signals induced in the plurality of coils.

The method of an embodiment comprises communicating the orientation ofthe input device to the gestural control system.

The method of an embodiment comprises communicating a position of theinput device to the gestural control system.

The method of an embodiment comprises communicating a state of at leastone input sensor of the input device to the gestural control system.

The detecting of an embodiment uses optical tracking.

The method of an embodiment comprises tracking at least one tagconnected to the input device.

The at least one tag of an embodiment comprises a plurality of tagsconnected to a front region of the input device.

The tracking of an embodiment includes dynamically detecting a positionof the at least one tag.

The tracking of an embodiment includes detecting position of a set oftags coupled to a region of the input device.

Each tag of the set of tags of an embodiment includes a pattern, whereineach pattern of each tag of the set of tags is different than anypattern of any remaining tag of the plurality of tags.

Each tag of an embodiment includes a first pattern and a second pattern,wherein the first pattern is common to any tag of the set of tags andthe second pattern is different between at least two tags of the set oftags.

The set of tags of an embodiment form a plurality of patterns on theinput device.

The at least one tag of an embodiment comprises a set of infrared (IR)light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a set of retro-reflective dots.

The method of an embodiment comprises controlling a state of the set ofIR LEDs via at least one input sensor of the input device.

The state of each IR LED of an embodiment corresponds to at least oneinput mode of the plurality of input modes.

The at least one tag of an embodiment comprises at least one trackingdot connected to the input device.

The at least one tracking dot of an embodiment comprises at least oneinfrared (IR) light-emitting diode (LED).

The at least one tracking dot of an embodiment comprises at least oneretro-reflective dot.

The at least one tracking dot of an embodiment comprises at least one ofan infrared (IR) light-emitting diode (LED) and a retro-reflective dot.

The at least one tracking dot of an embodiment comprises a set of IRLEDs and a set of retro-reflective dots.

The method of an embodiment comprises associating each side of aplurality of sides of the input device with an orientation of aplurality of orientations.

The method of an embodiment comprises defining a correspondence betweeneach side of the plurality of sides and an input mode of the pluralityof input modes.

The method of an embodiment comprises assigning each side of theplurality of sides to an input mode.

The method of an embodiment comprises dynamically assigning each side ofthe plurality of sides to an input mode based on a context.

The method of an embodiment comprises dynamically assigning a functionto an input sensor of a side based on the orientation.

The method of an embodiment comprises dynamically assigning a functionto an input sensor of each side based on a context.

The plurality of sides of an embodiment includes three sides, whereinthe input device has a triangular cross-section, comprising associatingeach side of the plurality of sides to an orientation of the pluralityof orientations.

The method of an embodiment comprises defining a correspondence betweeneach side of the plurality of sides and an input mode of the pluralityof input modes.

The correspondence of an embodiment comprises a first side of theplurality of sides corresponding to a first input mode and a second sideof the plurality of sides corresponding to a second input mode, whereinthe transition comprising rotating the input device around alongitudinal axis more than 120 degrees relative to a center of thefirst side causes a change from the first input mode to the second inputmode.

The method of an embodiment comprises applying a hysteresis band to theselection of the input mode during the transition.

The hysteresis band of an embodiment is at least one of equal to andgreater than approximately 30 degrees.

The hysteresis band of an embodiment is programmable.

Embodiments described herein include a method comprising automaticallydetecting a gesture of an input device from gesture data received via adetector. The gesture data of an embodiment is absolute three-spaceorientation data of an instantaneous state of the input device at apoint in time and space. The method of an embodiment comprisesidentifying the gesture using only the gesture data. The method of anembodiment comprises translating the gesture to a gesture signal. Themethod of an embodiment comprises automatically controlling selection ofan input mode of a plurality of input modes of the input device inresponse to the gesture signal.

Embodiments described herein include a method comprising: automaticallydetecting a gesture of an input device from gesture data received via adetector, wherein the gesture data is absolute three-space orientationdata of an instantaneous state of the input device at a point in timeand space, and identifying the gesture using only the gesture data;translating the gesture to a gesture signal; and automaticallycontrolling selection of an input mode of a plurality of input modes ofthe input device in response to the gesture signal.

Embodiments described herein include a method comprising detecting anorientation of an input device having a plurality of modal orientationscorresponding to the orientation. The plurality of modal orientations ofan embodiment corresponds to a plurality of input modes of a gesturalcontrol system. The method of an embodiment comprises automaticallycontrolling selection of an input mode of the plurality of input modesin response to the orientation. The method of an embodiment comprisescontrolling a three-space object coupled to the gestural control systemaccording to the input mode.

Embodiments described herein include a method comprising: detecting anorientation of an input device having a plurality of modal orientationscorresponding to the orientation, wherein the plurality of modalorientations correspond to a plurality of input modes of a gesturalcontrol system; automatically controlling selection of an input mode ofthe plurality of input modes in response to the orientation; andcontrolling a three-space object coupled to the gestural control systemaccording to the input mode.

The systems and methods described herein include and/or run under and/orin association with a processing system. The processing system includesany collection of processor-based devices or computing devices operatingtogether, or components of processing systems or devices, as is known inthe art. For example, the processing system can include one or more of aportable computer, portable communication device operating in acommunication network, and/or a network server. The portable computercan be any of a number and/or combination of devices selected from amongpersonal computers, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants,portable computing devices, and portable communication devices, but isnot so limited. The processing system can include components within alarger computer system.

The processing system of an embodiment includes at least one processorand at least one memory device or subsystem. The processing system canalso include or be coupled to at least one database. The term“processor” as generally used herein refers to any logic processingunit, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs), digitalsignal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits(ASIC), etc. The processor and memory can be monolithically integratedonto a single chip, distributed among a number of chips or components ofa host system, and/or provided by some combination of algorithms. Themethods described herein can be implemented in one or more of softwarealgorithm(s), programs, firmware, hardware, components, circuitry, inany combination.

System components embodying the systems and methods described herein canbe located together or in separate locations. Consequently, systemcomponents embodying the systems and methods described herein can becomponents of a single system, multiple systems, and/or geographicallyseparate systems. These components can also be subcomponents orsubsystems of a single system, multiple systems, and/or geographicallyseparate systems. These components can be coupled to one or more othercomponents of a host system or a system coupled to the host system.

Communication paths couple the system components and include any mediumfor communicating or transferring files among the components. Thecommunication paths include wireless connections, wired connections, andhybrid wireless/wired connections. The communication paths also includecouplings or connections to networks including local area networks(LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs),proprietary networks, interoffice or backend networks, and the Internet.Furthermore, the communication paths include removable fixed mediumslike floppy disks, hard disk drives, and CD-ROM disks, as well as flashRAM, Universal Serial Bus (USB) connections, RS-232 connections,telephone lines, buses, and electronic mail messages.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to beconstrued in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustivesense; that is to say, in a sense of “including, but not limited to.”Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural orsingular number respectively. Additionally, the words “herein,”“hereunder,” “above,” “below,” and words of similar import refer to thisapplication as a whole and not to any particular portions of thisapplication. When the word “or” is used in reference to a list of two ormore items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of theword: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and anycombination of the items in the list.

The above description of embodiments of the processing environment isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the systems and methodsdescribed to the precise form disclosed. While specific embodiments of,and examples for, the processing environment are described herein forillustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possiblewithin the scope of other systems and methods, as those skilled in therelevant art will recognize. The teachings of the processing environmentprovided herein can be applied to other processing systems and methods,not only for the systems and methods described above.

The elements and acts of the various embodiments described above can becombined to provide further embodiments. These and other changes can bemade to the processing environment in light of the above detaileddescription.

In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not beconstrued to limit the embodiments to the specific embodiments disclosedin the specification and the claims, but should be construed to includeall systems that operate under the claims. Accordingly, the embodimentsare not limited by the disclosure herein, but instead the scope of theembodiments is to be determined entirely by the claims.

While certain aspects of the embodiments are presented below in certainclaim forms, the inventors contemplate the various aspects of theembodiments in any number of claim forms. Accordingly, the inventorsreserve the right to add additional claims after filing the applicationto pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of theembodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. An input device comprising: a processor coupledto a detector and contained in a housing having a hand-held form factor,wherein the detector detects and translates into input signals at leastone of an orientation in which the housing is currently operated and aposition of the housing, wherein the detector detects the at least oneof the orientation and the position using signals induced in coils; anda transmitter coupled to the processor, wherein the transmittercommunicates the input signals to a gestural control system, wherein theinput signals automatically control a plurality of input modes of thegestural control system and control translation and rotation of athree-space object coupled to the gestural control system; wherein afirst side of a plurality of sides corresponds to a first input mode anda second side of a plurality of sides corresponds to a second inputmode, wherein a transition comprising rotating the input device around alongitudinal axis more than 120 degrees relative to a center of thefirst side causes a change from the first input mode to the second inputmode.
 2. An input device comprising a hand-held housing that includes aprocessor, wherein the processor is coupled to a detector that detectsand translates into input signals an orientation in which the inputdevice is currently operated and transitions between a plurality oforientations of the input device, wherein the input signalsautomatically control a plurality of input modes of a gestural controlsystem and control a three-space object coupled to the gestural controlsystem, wherein the input signals control the three-space object throughthree translational degrees of freedom and three rotational degrees offreedom; wherein a first side of a plurality of sides corresponds to afirst input mode and a second side of a plurality of sides correspondsto a second input mode, wherein a transition comprising rotating theinput device around a longitudinal axis more than 120 degrees relativeto a center of the first side causes a change from the first input modeto the second input mode.
 3. An input device comprising a hand-heldhousing that includes a processor, wherein the processor is coupled to adetector that detects and translates into input signals an orientationin which the input device is currently operated and transitions betweena plurality of orientations of the input device, wherein the inputsignals automatically control a plurality of input modes of a gesturalcontrol system; wherein a first side of a plurality of sides correspondsto a first input mode and a second side of a plurality of sidescorresponds to a second input mode, wherein a transition comprisingrotating the input device around a longitudinal axis more than 120degrees relative to a center of the first side causes a change from thefirst input mode to the second input mode.
 4. The device of claim 3,wherein the detector comprises circuitry including a plurality of coils.5. The device of claim 4, comprising a remote electromagnetic field(EMF) generator that generates an EMF that induces signals in theplurality of coils.
 6. The device of claim 5, comprising a plurality ofremote EMF generators, wherein each EMF generator induces signals in theplurality of coils when the housing is proximate to the EMF generatorthat induces the signals.
 7. The device of claim 5, wherein the detectordetects the orientation using the EMF signals induced in the pluralityof coils.
 8. The device of claim 7, wherein the detector detects aposition of the input device using the signals induced in the pluralityof coils.
 9. The device of claim 4, comprising a transmitter coupled tothe processor, wherein the transmitter is a wireless transmitter. 10.The device of claim 9, wherein the transmitter communicates theorientation to the gestural control system.
 11. The device of claim 9,wherein the transmitter communicates a position of the input device tothe gestural control system.
 12. The device of claim 9, comprising atleast one input sensor coupled to the processor, wherein the transmittercommunicates state of the at least one input sensor to the gesturalcontrol system.
 13. The device of claim 12, wherein the detectortranslates raw input sensor position data into input sensor state. 14.The device of claim 13, wherein position of the input sensor controlsthe gestural control system.
 15. The device of claim 3, wherein theplurality of orientations corresponds to the plurality of input modes ofa gestural control system.
 16. The device of claim 15, wherein theplurality of input modes comprise a direct manipulation mode in whichthe input device directly manipulates of an application element of acomponent coupled to the gestural control system.
 17. The device ofclaim 15, wherein the plurality of input modes comprise ameta-manipulation mode in which the input device directly manipulates aset of application elements of a component coupled to the gesturalcontrol system.
 18. The device of claim 15, wherein the plurality ofinput modes comprise a three-dimensional manipulation mode in which theinput device controls three-dimensional manipulation of an applicationelement of a component coupled to the gestural control system.
 19. Thedevice of claim 3, wherein the input signals automatically controlselection of an input mode of the plurality of input modes in responseto the orientation.
 20. The device of claim 19, comprising applyinghysteresis to selection of the input mode during the transitions. 21.The device of claim 3, wherein the transitions are rotationaltransitions about at least one axis of the input device.
 22. The deviceof claim 3, wherein the detector tracks in real-time instantaneousthree-space orientation at a point in time and space.
 23. The device ofclaim 22, wherein the detector translates raw tracking data of the inputdevice into six degrees of spatial orientation.
 24. The device of claim3, wherein the detector tracks in real-time instantaneous three-spaceposition at a point in time and space.
 25. The device of claim 24,wherein the detector translates raw tracking data of the input deviceinto six degrees of spatial position.
 26. The device of claim 3, whereinthe housing comprises a plurality of sides, wherein each side of theplurality of sides corresponds to an orientation of the plurality oforientations.
 27. The device of claim 26, wherein each side of theplurality of sides corresponds to an input mode of the plurality ofinput modes.
 28. The device of claim 27, wherein each side of theplurality of sides is assigned an input mode to which the sidecorresponds.
 29. The device of claim 27, wherein each side of theplurality of sides is dynamically assigned an input mode based on acontext.
 30. The device of claim 26, wherein at least one side of theplurality of sides comprises an input sensor.
 31. The device of claim26, wherein each side of the plurality of sides comprises an inputsensor.
 32. The device of claim 31, wherein each input sensor of eachside is dynamically assigned a function based on the orientation. 33.The device of claim 31, wherein each input sensor of each side isdynamically assigned a function based on a context.
 34. The device ofclaim 26, wherein the plurality of sides includes three sides, whereinthe housing has a triangular cross-section, wherein each side of theplurality of sides corresponds to an orientation of the plurality oforientations.
 35. The device of claim 20, wherein the detector applies ahysteresis band to the selection of the input mode during thetransition.
 36. The device of claim 35, wherein the hysteresis band isat least one of equal to and greater than approximately 30 degrees. 37.The device of claim 35, wherein the hysteresis band is programmable. 38.The device of claim 3, wherein the detector detects an event of theinput device, wherein the event corresponds to at least one of athree-space location and a three-space orientation of the input device,wherein the event corresponds to an application of a first type.
 39. Thedevice of claim 38, wherein the processor generates data sequencescomprising input device event data specifying the event and stateinformation of the event, wherein the input device event data and stateinformation are type-specific data having a type corresponding to afirst application of the gestural control system.
 40. The device ofclaim 39, wherein the processor forms a data capsule to include the datasequences, wherein the data capsule has a data structure comprising anapplication-independent representation of the data sequences.
 41. Thedevice of claim 40, wherein the processor places the data capsule in arepository.
 42. The device of claim 41, wherein a second event runningunder an application of a second type searches the repository andidentifies a correspondence between the data capsule and the secondevent, wherein the application of the second type executes an operationcorresponding to the second event using contents of the data sequencesof the data capsule.
 43. The device of claim 3, wherein the gesturalcontrol system controls a three-space object coupled to the gesturalcontrol system.
 44. The device of claim 43, comprising controlling viathe device the three-space object through three translational degrees offreedom and three rotational degrees of freedom.
 45. The device of claim44, wherein the controlling comprises a direct coupling between motionof the input device and the three-space object.
 46. The device of claim44, wherein the controlling includes an indirect coupling between motionof the input device and the three-space object.
 47. The device of claim44, wherein the three-space object is presented on a display devicecoupled to the processor.
 48. The device of claim 44, comprisingcontrolling movement of the three-space object by mapping the pluralityof input modes of the input device to a plurality of object translationsof the three-space object.
 49. The device of claim 48, wherein themapping includes a direct mapping between the plurality of input modesand the plurality of object translations.
 50. The device of claim 48,wherein the mapping includes an indirect mapping between the pluralityof input modes and the plurality of object translations.
 51. The deviceof claim 48, wherein the mapping includes correlating positional offsetsof the plurality of input modes to positional offsets of the objecttranslations of the three-space object.
 52. The device of claim 48,wherein the mapping includes correlating positional offsets of the inputdevice to translational velocity of the object translations of thethree-space object.
 53. The device of claim 44, comprising controllingmovement of the three-space object by mapping a linear gesture of theinput device to a linear translation of the three-space object.
 54. Thedevice of claim 44, comprising controlling movement of the three-spaceobject by mapping a rotational gesture of the input device to arotational translation of the three-space object.
 55. The device ofclaim 44, comprising controlling movement of the three-space object bymapping a linear gesture of the input device to a rotational translationof the three-space object.
 56. The device of claim 44, comprisingcontrolling movement of the three-space object by mapping a rotationalgesture of the input device to a linear translation of the three-spaceobject.
 57. The device of claim 44, wherein the detecting comprisesdetecting when an extrapolated position of the input device intersectsvirtual space, wherein the virtual space comprises space depicted on adisplay device coupled to the gestural control system.